LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDD177E7bflD 



A'S'AM A^W 1»4BT» 



AN INDIAN STORY 



By Mrs. SHERWOOD. 

AUTHOR OF "LITTLE HENRr AND HIS BEARER, &e. &«- 

_ m 



From the Third London, Edition. 



BOSTON: 
;A>rr«;i. t. Armstrong and crocker & brewster^ 

NEW YORK: JOHN P, HAVEN. 

1822. 






ADVERTISEMENT. 



The stories in this little work treating also of the 
same subjects which form the matter of the Stories on 
the Church Catechism, it follows, that, in some places, 
: considerable resemblance will be found between them; 
^ t as most of these relations were founded npon real 
. enes which passed before the eyes of the i '-^r, it 
is thought best to make no considerable alterations in 
them, lest they should become less accurate descriptions 
than they now are of the manners and real modes of life 
in Hindoo&tan. 



THE 



AYAH AKB I.ADYc 



CHAPTER I, 



On our Obligation to shew Kindness to our 
Fellow -Creatures, 



There was a Lady in this country, who 
had an Jyah who had lived with her several 
years; and although this Ayah had a great 
many faults, and was by no means faithful to 
her mistress, yet the Lady was very kind to 
her, not only when she was well and could 
do her work, but also when she was sick 
and could do nothing. This Lady paid her 
Ayah seven rupees per month; besides which, 
she gave her a new suit of clothes twice a 
year, and money, and many other little things, 
such as tea and sugar when she had a cold, 
so that the Ayah had a very good place. 
Now the reason why the Lady was so kind 
to her Ayah was this, that the Lad}' feared 
God, and God has commanded us in his Holy 
#1 



b THE AYAH AND LADY. 

Bible to love one another, and not to de- 
spise people that are lower than ourselves; so 
she was very kind to her Ayah, and to all 
her servants, and to all the people that were 
about her. Now the Ayah had a small house 
in the Lady's compound, where she used to 
have her victuals cooked; this house was 
just opposite the door of the Ladj's bunga- 

It happened one day that the Lady was sit- 
ting in her dressing-room at work, just at 
the time that the Ayah was eating her khau- 
na at the door of her house. The Ayah had 
half a see?' of rice boiled with fish curry, very 
excellent, served upon a bright brass dish, 
and her shining lota and paun-hox were plac^ 
cd by her side, so that the Begum herself 
could not have wished to have fared better 
had she been there. Now while the Ayah 
sat eating her curry hhaut at her leisure, a 
very old woman, who had scarcely any 
clothes, and was half starved, came into the 
compound; and she made salam to the Ayah, 
and asked charity for God's sake. The 
Ayah just lifted up her eyes from her khauna, 
and then looking down again she called the 
beggar some very bad names, such as should 
never be spoken by a woman, and bid her g<» 
out of the compound, <'Give me two or three 



THE AYAH AND LADY. t 

cowries, or one handful of rice," said the 
poor woman; «<for 1 am starving. 1 have 
been very ill, and unable to work; and 1 am 
now ready to die of hunger." 

The Ayah raised her voice, and hid the 
poor woman begone, or she would call one of 
the servants to beat her out of the covipound. 
So the poor woman was frightened, and got 
off as quick as she could; and the Ayah went 
on eating till she was quite satisfied. She 
eat all the airrij^ hut she had two handfuls 
of rice left, which she could not eat; there- 
fore, as she wanted to clean her dishes, she 
threw these two handfuls of rice upon the 
ground for the crows. She then drank some 
water, and when she had scoured her brass 
dishes, and washed her hands, and face, and 
mouth, she lay down and slept until it was 
time to dress her Lady. 

And now I will tell you what her Lady 
said to her when she came in; for she had 
seen e\eiy thing that had passed, and had 
sent a servant after the poor woman with 
some rice, and a piece of coarse cloth for a 
sheet. 

<»Ayah," said the Lady, "who was that 
\> ho came up to you, when you were eating 
vour dinner?" 



B THE AYAH AND XADT» 

*Byah, I saw no one, Ma'am, but a poor 
wretch who lives in a hut in the bazar, who 
came to ask charity. 

Lady, Did you give her any thing? 

dyah. Ma'am knows that i am but a poor 
woman^ how could I give charity? 

Lady. What did the poor woman expect 
you to give her? Did she ask you for rupees? 

Jya/i. 0! no, Ma'am: she wanted a lew 
cowries to buy khauna. 

Lady. And could you not spare her a few 
cowries? It is a saying in my country. That 
no person is poorer for what he gives away: 
you would never have missed a few cowries, 

Jiyah. But 1 do not think 1 had any by 
me, Ma'am. 

Lady, If you had then given the poor 
woman those two handfuls of rice, which you 
'threw to the crows, yon would have been 
nothing tlie poorer, and the old woman would 
have blessed you, and God would have been 
pleased with you; for the wise king Solomon, 
the son of David, in his Proverbs, saith, 
lie that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed^ 
for he giveth of his bread to the poor; and also, 
He that giveth to the poor^ shall not lack, 

Ayah, 1 have not been used. Ma'am, to 
sl»are my victuals with such people. Thp 
old woman has no cast; she lives in a little 



THE AYAH AND tADY. 9 

clay hut in the ba^ar^ itciir to t!»e great jyejml 
tree. She has nothing hut filthy rags to 
wear; and tlie people say, that she has been 
eating rats and mice, and dead dogs, in the 
highway, and upon the dunghills. 

Lady. How can she eat such nasty things? 

Jlijalu 0! Ma'am, what can she do? She 
has nothing better. 

Lady. Then, it seems, she is not to blame 
for eating these things, she would eat in a 
more cleanly manner if she could? 

Jiyah. To be sure, Ma'am, she would; 
but she is very old, and veiy poor. 

Lady. And do you despise this woman, 
because she is old, and poor, and forced to 
endure hard necessities? Is this right, Ayah? 

Jynh. She is nothing to me, Ma'am; she 
has no cast: even our maitix would not eat 
with her. 

Lady. Whether she has cast or not, I do 
not know, because these are things 1 have 
nothing to do with; but one thing I do know, 
that this old woman whom you despise, is 
your sister. 

.iyah. My sister, Ma'am! No, indeed, our 
family were all good Mussulmauns: we never 
lost cast any of us; nobody can say we ever 
did. 



10 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

Ladij. Notwithstanding which, I tell you, 
she is your sister, anil mine also. — I will ex- 
plain this matter to you. We have a hook, 
written hy Moses, which gives an account of 
the creation of the workl. God made the 
world, and all things in it, in six days. He 
nrddCf at first, one man, and one woman, call- 
ed Adam and Eve, from which first pair, all 
i\te men and women that ever were upon the 
face of the earth are descended^ to that there is 
not a human heing, high or low, rich or poor, 
that does not bear the relation of hrotlier or 
sister to you; for Adam was the common 
father of all, as Eve was the mother; for 
God hath made of one blood all nations under 
heaven. For this reason, we ought to feel 
the affection of brothers and sisters to each 
other; we ought to pity each other, and not 
despise any man or woman, be they ever so 
low or poor in this world's goods. 

By this time the Lady was dressed; but 
before she went out of the room, she said, 
"Ayah, if you are sorry for having despised 
the poor woman, I will tell you how you shall 
make up your unkindness to her.'* 

«*Wiiat can I do, Ma'am?" said the Ayah. 

«Go to her," said the Lady, *<and ask her 
if she can spin; and if she can. Til make her 
a present of a spinning-wheel: for it would 



THE AYAH AND LADT. 11 

be better for Jier to spin than to go about 
begging." 

♦*l*li go, Ma'am," said the Ayah; "and if 
you give beV a wheel, I'll make her a present 
of two puckahf to purchase cotton for a be- 
ginning." 

Then the Lady was pleased with the Ayah. 
So the Ayah went to the poor woman's hut 
under the pepil, to inquire if she could spin. 
<*l could spin very well, but 1 have no wheel," 
said the poor woman. 

*«I will bring you one to-morrow from my 
Lady, with two yiickah of cotton from my- 
self," said the Ayah. 

The old woman blessed the Lady and the 
Ayah; and when she got her spinning-w heel 
she never went a begging any more,jnor had 
-reason to eat rats, mice, and dead dogs. 
And we should ail remember, that we are 
brothers and sisters made by the same hand, 
even the band of God, and descended from 
the same man, our father Adam- 



^ 



12 THE AYAH AN»D LADY. 

CHAPTER ir. 

On the Depravity of Human JVlature, 

One morning the Lady called her Ayah, and 
said, <'Ayah, 1 have bought several pieces ot* 
coarse cloth and chintz, and I have a mind 
to give some to such of our servants' wives 
as are the most in want of clothes; can you 
tell me which are most deserving of charity?'* 

"Ma'am is very good," said the Ayah. 

"First," said the Lady, <'tliere is the 
musalc/iee, I know that he has a large fami- 
ly; what kind of woman is his wife?" 

Tlie Ayah tossed up her head at hearing 
of the musalchee's wife. «*()! Ma'am," she 
said, "the musalchee's wife is a good-for- 
nothing, idle creature, as ever was seen; she 
sits all day smoking and chewing paim—l 
am sure she is not worthy of Ma'am's chari- 
ty." 

"'^^he cook has good wages," said the La- 
dy, "and his wife can afford to wear silver 
Imngles and ear-rings, therefore I shall not 
give her any cloth; hut the cook's mate has 
a wife, I think, Ayah, and a young child." 



THE AY All AND LADY. 13 

"0! Ma'am," says (lie Ayah, "she is not 
the cook's mate's wife at all: she is some poor 
wretch he picked up in the bazar. My Lady 
will not, 1 am sure, bestow her charity on 
such a poor wretch." 

<«Has the beheistie a wife?" said the Lady; 
ifperhaps slie may be worthy of some cloth." 

.iyah. She is no more the beheistie^ s wife 
than I am; she has another husband at Luck- 
now. 

Lady. The maitre has a poor sickly wife, 
and a large family^ I must give them some 
cloth. 

<»0! the mailre^s wife," said the Ayah; 
"if she is sick, she deserves to be so. Ma'am 
docs not know what a bad w^oman she is, and 
what a bad tongue she has," 

Lady. Wiiy, it seems. Ayah, from your 
account, that there is not one good woman 
in the compound; are tliere any in the ba%ar?^^ 

Jiyah. This place, Ma'am, is a very 
wretched place; all here are very bad. 

"So then," said the Lady, "there is not 
one woman worthy of my cloth; I must, 
send it back to the copra-waulla.'^ 

Wiien the Ayah heard the Lady say she 
would send the copra back to the copra-waul- 
la, she bowed down before the Lady, and 



14 THE AYAII AND lADT. 

said, "Ma'am, please to give her slave a suit 
of clothes." 

<*What, Ayah," said the Lady, "do you 
tliink yourself better than all the women in 
the compound and tlie bazar^ tliat I should 
give you the cloth I bought for charity? You 
know, Ayah, that you have many faults: you 
often tell lies to me; you spend most of your 
time in chewing ;;a?«i, sleeping, and gossip- 
ing; you often use very bad language when 
you are talking with your companions: these 
things 1 know you do; and what other bail 
things you do, when I don't see you, your 
own heart can tell, and God knows. There- 
fore, if none but good women are to have the 
cloth, I think it will not be yours, for you 
are not good." 

<*Then," said the Ayah, "Ma'am must 
keep the copra for herself, for she alone is 
good, we are all bad; but Ma'am is like none 
other, she is without fault." 

«Ayah," said the Lady, *<you know now 
that you are saying what is not true; al- 
though I hope, by the help of God, 1 do not 
fall into th(»se ojien and shameful sins wljicli 
some poor creatures do, such as getting in- 
toxicated, robbing people of their money, say- 
ing bad words, and faults of that kind, yet i 
(ivery day I do wrong things: how often iiavc i 



THE AYAH AND LADY, 15 

you seen me angry without reason, and idle 
vvljcn 1 otight to be serving God, and proud 
and fretful, I do not pretend to be good, 
Ayah, 1 know I never was, nor ever sliall 
be truly good, while 1 live upon the earth, 
although 1 trust that God will assist mc from 
day to day to get better, for he has promised 
us his help, if we will ask it in the manner 
which he has ordained; w) you must under- 
stand that I do not consider myself without 
fault, but as a very great and miserable sin- 
ner. And I do not only know myself to be 
in sin, but I know that all the men, and 
women, and children, that are upon the face 
of the earth are sinners also, as our Bible 
snys, there is none good; (Rom. iii, 10,) in sin 
did my mother conceive me, (Psalm li, 5.) 
And your Mussulmaun, and even the Hindoo, 
teachers say the same thing, that all men are 
sinners." 

^yah. Why, to be sure, Ma'am, one can- 
not live many years in this world, without 
seeing that the world is wicked. Ma'am does 
not know half the wickedness that is done in 
the bwzar, or even in this compound, 

Lady.^ And what is more than this, Ayah, 
I do not know half the wickedness of my own 
heart, though I have often endeavored to un- 
derstand it; but in our book it is written, 



lb THE AYAH AND LADY. 

The heart is deceitful above all thingSf and 
desperately wicked. (Jer. xvii, 9.) 

jiijah. How happened it, Ma'am, that peo- 
])le are so wicked? Did God make men 
wicked? 

<»The Lord God," said the Lady, "never 
sins, no does any thins; wicked; on the con- 
trary, he hates every thing wicked, and every 
kind of sin or uncleanness is hateful in his 
sight. He made the first man, our father 
Adam, and Eve his wife, in his ow n image 
and likeness, even in the likeness of God; but 
I will read you the account of ihese things out 
of my book." Then the Lady directed the 
Ayah to bring her a large book from the 
dressing-table: the Ayah knew the book, 
becavise her Lady read in it every day; and 
the Lady read and explained to the Ayah the 
second chapter of Gencf-sis, from the eighth to 
tlie nineteenth verse, and also the third chap- 
ter, for the Bible was not then translated 
into the language of the country. 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 17 



CHAPTER IIL 



The Mcessity of our tJVature being changed 
before we are capable of Happiness, 

One night, in the month of August, some 
time after this discourse, there was a dread- 
ful storm of wind and rain, and some of the 
servants' houses in the compound were hlowu 
down: these were, the Ayah's house, and the 
cook's house, and the khaunsaumaun^s house, 
and the dobee^s. Through the mercy of God, 
however, nobody was hurt, excepting the old 
woman who cooked the Ayah's food,who had 
her foot a little crushed by the fall of a piece 
of clay, which formed part of the wall. 

The Saheb and the Lady went the next 
morning to see the fallen houses; and the 
Saheb said, "These houses must be rebuilt, 
hut I think there is a much pleasanter situa- 
tion than this. I like to be comfortable my- 
self, and 1 like to see my servants comforta- 
ble; therefore I will have these new houses 
built in the most agreeable part of the com- 
pound^ and the houses shall be convenient." 
-So iliG Saheb chose a pleasant spot of ground 
2# 



18 THE AYAH AND LADY.' 

in the compound; it was airy and cool, and 
covered witli fresh grass, and the garden 
was so near, that the sweet smell oftliellow- 
ers reached the place. Thei-e the Saheb 
caused four houses to he huilt: in each house 
there were two rooms, and in the front there 
was a verandah^ in which, during the heat 
of the day, any one might sit down, shelter- 
ed from the sun, and see the hoats upon the 
river, for the river was only a little way off. 

So, when the houses were finished, the do- 
iee and his wife had one; the khaunsaumaun 
and iiis family another; the cook, and his 
wife and child, had the third; and the Ayah 
and iier old woman had the fourth. 

"Well," said the Ayah to her old woman, 
as soon as she had got possession of her 
house, "this is indeed a delightful jdace! 
and two rooms within, hesides the verandah! 
In the hot weather 1 sliall sit on the north 
side, and have a prospect of the river; I 
shall see all the budgerows that go up and 
down: and in the cold weather 1 shall sit on 
the south side, and enjoy the warmth of the 
sun. And now spread my mat, and I will 
eat my curry in the verandah.^' 

While the Ayah sat waiting in the door of 
her house for her khaiina, s!ie called first to 
one neighbor, then to another: ^'We shall 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 19 

sleep well here, khaunsaumaunf^' said 
she; no disturbance from those dirty chil- 
dren of tlie maitrc^sl My Lady's clothes will 
he very white! there is no smoke here from 
the bazar."'' And thus she proceeded in high 
good humor; and when she came in to dress 
iier Lady, she went on in the same way, 
saying, that she should be as happy in her 
new house, as if she were in Paradise; and 
that her house was the best of the four. 

"1 Ijope it may be so," said the Lady; "l 
liopc that you may be as happy as you ex- 
pect." 

The next day, when the Ayah went to her. 
khauna^ the khaunsaumaun^s wife came to 
the door of her own house, and lifting aside 
the corner of the purdah^ (for she was one 
that never shewed herself out of doors,) she 
threw some water out of her hookah directly 
upon the Ayah's lota and paim-box. 

<«What have you done so for?" said the 
Ayah, in a loud angry voice. 

By this time the khaunsaumaun^s wife 
was gone from the door, but not so far off 
that she could not hear what the Ayah said. 
She came to the door again, and peeping 
half her head out from behind the purdah, 
•*Why did you say then that your house is 
ihe best of all these four?" said she. 



20 THE AYAH AND XADT, 

«I said no such thing," said the Ayah. 

<*Yes, but you did," said the kliaunsau- 
mauii's wife, «and the dobine knows it, and 
the cook's wife. You said it to the Bebee- 
Saheb, and the matranee heard you." 

"Well, and if I did say so," said the Ayah, 
<*l said no more than is true; my house is 
the best of tlie four, and my Lady meant 
that 1 should have the best." 

Upon this, out came the dobine, and the 
cook's wife, with her child upon her hips, 
and they all three set upon the Ayah, abus- 
ing her so loud that their voices might he 
heard over Aie river; neither was the Ayah 
behind them, but she scolded, in her turn, 
till she was out of breath. The old woman 
left off also preparing the Ayah's curry, and 
came out into the verundah, to speak in be- 
half of her mistress. At length the khaun- 
saumaun^s wife, from behind the purdah^ 
threw an old shoe at the Ayah, upon wjiich 
the Ayah got up and flew at tlie khaunsau' 
mnun*s wife to beat her; the khaunsaumaiui's 
wife called in the dobine^ and the Ayah her 
old woman; and the cook's wife set down 
her child, and took her part in the quarrel: 
and so presently all the five women were 
fighting together. 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 21 

Now the Sahch and Bcbee-Saheh wci-e sit- 
ting at tiffin, with all the doors and windows 
open. *<Wliat noise is that?" said the /Jebee- 
Saheb: ^'a noise ot* people screaming; and I 
think I hear blows, like fighting." 

**It comes from the bazar ^'" said the Saheb, 

«'Nay, my dear," said the Lady, <»1 think 
it comes from the new houses." 

"And so it does," said the Sahcb; "surely 
the women there are fighting!" 

Then the Saheb ordered the khaunsau- 
maun to go and see what was the matter. 
When tiie khaunsaumaiin came to his house, 
lie found all the women still fighting; some 
had bloody noses: others had their faces 
torn and scratched; and the Ayah's eye was 
swelled by a blow the dobine had given her. 
When the women saw the khaunsaumaun 
coming, each ran into her own house, for 
they knew he came from the Saheb, The 
khaunsaumaun, who was a steady old man, 
locked up his wife in the house and returned 
to his master. 

In the evening, when the Ayah came to 
dress her Lady, her eye, and lips, and one 
side of her face, were dreadfully swelled. 
She drew her chaudur over her face as well 
as she could; nevertheless her mistress saw 
the condition in which she was. Then the 



22 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

Bebee-Saheb said to llie Ayah, "Yesterday,) 
Ayah, you told me, that you should be as, 
happy in the new house, as if you were in 
Paradise; but 1 fear you have found some i 
cause of discontent as you and your neigh- 
bors liave fallen out lo-day." 

*»Ma'am," said the Ayah, "there is no 
fault in the houses; there is no gentleman's 
servants in all Hindoostaun have such 
houses: but with such neighbors, I could not 
be content, if 1 were to be in the king's pal- 
ace. Ma'am does not know what a proud, 
ill-tempered woman that khaunsaumaurC s 
wife is: then the dobine — see, she struck mo 
on one side of the fare with all her strength; 
she would have killed me, if she could." 

Lady. And what did you do aU this time? 
Did you stand still, to be beat awd ahuscd? 

''No, indeed," said the Ayah; does the 
Bebec-Saheb think 1 would stand to be beat 
by such low people?" 

♦»It seems, Ayah, by your own account," 
said tlie Lady, «»that you arc full as ready- 
to quarrel with the women as they are with 
you, and that you hate them as much as they 
do you. With these evil tempers one to- 
wards another, — this hatred, malice, and 
envy, — you could not be happy in heaven 



t;he ayah and lady. 23 

itself; and this shews, Ayah, that what our 
holy book says is true, viz. that the heart of 
man niust be changetl, and made altogether 
new, before he can enter into the kingdom of 
heaven.*' (John iii, 5, 7.) 

The Ayah told the Lady, that she did not 
know what changing the heart meant. 

Ladij. 1 told you, Ayah, some time ago, 
that God made mankind at first innocent and 
holy; but Satan, that is, the devil, or the old 
serpent, came to the first woman, and tempt- 
ed her to disobey God, by eating the forbid- 
den fruit: and siie did eat, and gave also to 
her husband. From that time, their hearts 
became sinful; and their children, who were 
formed after their likeness, in tlK^ir own 
image, were born full of sin. Every little 
child that you sec. Ayah, is disposed to all 
kinds of sin. Little babies will quarrel with 
each other, and with their mothers, even be- 
fore they can speak or walk; and as they 
get older, they become every day more and 
more wicked: so that children who are not 
sometimes corrected, and kept under fear of 
their parents, become altogether intolerable. 
Now we are told, there are two places pre- 
pared for mankind after death: the one, 
heaven; the other, hell. In speaking of 
heaven, our holy book says, For since the be- 



24 THE AYAH AND LADY, 

ginning oj the world men have not heard, nor 
perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, 
O Gody besides thee^ what he hath prepared 
for him that waitcth for him. (Isaiah Ixiv, 
4; 1 Coi". ii, 9.) But tliis we ai-e sure of, 
that it is a place beautiful beyond any thing 
we ever saw; and that in that happy place 
there shall be no more deaths neither sorrow, 
nor cryingf neither shall there be any more 
pain. (Rev. xxi, 4.) Hell, on the other 
hand, is a place burning with fire and brim- 
stone; and there their worm dieth not, neither 
is their fire quenched. (Mark ix,43,44.) Now- 
all those, who, like the old serpent, entertain 
malice, hatred, answer, and revenge in their 
hearts, will, we are told, be shut out from 
heaven, (Gal. v, 19 — 21;) and after death 
they will be forever confined with satan in 
hell: (Rev. xxi, 8;) for if God were to admit 
people burningwith rage and malice in to heav- 
en, heaven itself would be filled with disorder 
and confusion, misery and ruin. Therefore, 
Ayah, God has taught us that we must pray 
him to take from us our proud, spiteful 
hearts, and give us|ifew hearts, that we may 
be kind to one another, tender-liearted, lov- 
ins: one another. (Psalm li, 10: Matt, vii, 
7,'kc.) 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 25 

Ayah, Did Ma'am ever pray to God to 
give her a new heart? 

Ladtj, It is time for me, Ayah, to go oii«; 
but to-morrow evening, wlien I am dressing, 
1 will answer your question. And now you 
would do well to go home, and pray to God 
that he would put into your heart to live in 
peace with your neighbors. 



CHAPTER IV. 

In which it is shewn, how we may exchan-ge 
our evil JS*ature for a better. 

The next morning, when the Lady was sit- 
ting at work, she called in her Ayah, to 
wind some thread; and as the Ayah sat by 
her, on the carpet, the Lady entered into the 
following discourse with her. 

"Yesterday, you asked me, if I had ever 
prayed to God to give me a new heart. I 
will now answer your question. I was born 
in Europe, where all people are called Chris- 
tians, although there are many persons there 
who think nothing about religion. About 



S6 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

ten years ago, I came to lliis country; at 
tliitt time 1 hud no tear of God upon my 
mind: 1 tliought ot nothing but how 1 should 
get hue clothes, and jewels, and of going out 
to great dinners and nautclies, I was very 
proud and hard-hearted to my fellow crea- 
tures; for 1 loved no one but myself: and i 
went on for a long time in this way, till I 
was taken ill, and so ill, that 1 thought ( 
should die. JVow 1 knew that there were 
two places in the next world: hell, for such 
persons as did not fear God; and heaven, 
for those who did. And 1 began to fear, 
lest hell should be the place provided for me; 
liir 1 knew I had not lived in the fear of God, 
nor kept his commandments. And 1 began, 
as I said, to be very much frightened; but 1 
i\k\ not know what to do. 

••Now there was in the place w]ier§ 1 lay 
ill a Christian padre, SVhen this /;rt(/rc 
iieard I was so ill, and that 1 was afraid of 
dying, and going to the place apjiointed for 
the wicked, he came to see me. He found 
me lying upon my couch, and looking very 
unliappy. When he had made his salam to 
me, he said, «I heard that you are in great 
trouble of mind, and I am come to comfort 
vou." 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 27 

<•' <I tliank you, Sir,' I said; *buj: you can't 
comfort me, tor 1 have led a very sinful life, 
and novv 1 fear tliat 1 sliall die, and that I 
shall be condemned to hell. 

^* 'So far,' said the padre, «you are riajht, 
and say wliat is true. You are a sinner, as 
all mankind are; but you have been brought 
up in a Christian country, and do you not 
know, that there is a way jirovided by which 
the greatest sinner may be saved from hell?' 
« *I was born in a Christian country,' I 
answered, *but I never thought about relig- 
ion; all my time has been spent in dressing, 
and dancing, and singing, and eating, and 
drinking.' 

''Then the good padre taught me, that all 
mankind were sinners, and fit only, through 
their exceeding sinfulness, for hell-fire; hut 
that the Almighty Lord God had, in iiis 
great mercy and kindness, sent his only Soji 
into the world, to die for men, and that all 
who believe in him should have their sins 
forgiven tl>em. The Son of God, he re- 
peated to me, was equal with God, and one 
with God; and that he came down from 
heaven, and was made man in the womb of 
a holy Virgin; that he lived thirty-three 
years in this world, spending all his time in 
doing good; at the end of which time he 



£8 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

gave up his life upon tlie cross, receiving in 
his own person the punishment of all our 
sins. He told me, also, that J must helieve 
in this blessed Savior, and love him; that 
through him J shouM receive the Holy Spirit 
of God, which would enter into my heart, 
and make my heart clean, so that I should 
no longer love sin. He taught me, also, 
how to seek the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, 
by praying to him, and confessing myself to 
be a miserable sinner, which is what 1 really 
am. He directed nie, also, to read God's 
holy book, and to think upon the words of 
the book* a!]d pray for help that my life 
might be ruled by it. 

"So 1 observed what this holy padre told 
me, and applied myself to read God's holy 
book, and pray, and think upon all the 
things which the Son of God had done for 
me; and 1 found my heart by degrees begin- 
ning to change; and then (he evil things that 
I used to love, became hateful to me. And 
whereas I used to live in enrnity with God 
and my fellow-creatures, 1 now began to 
love my Gixl, who gave his Son for me; and 
his commandments, which I once despised, 
now became precious in my sight." 

Then the Ayah asked the lady what God's 
commandments are? 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 29 

Tiie lady answered, "There are ten com- 
mandments which God has given to men: 
these I will teach you at some future time. 
No man was ever yet able to keep these 
commandments perfectly, by reason of the 
sinfulness of the nature of man; but those 
who' love God, and have been reconciled to 
him by the blood of the Son of God, are 
best able to keep them, because to them is 
given the assistance of the Holy Spirit." 



CHAPTER V. 

Conversation on the Ten Commandments, 

One morning, when the Ayah was brushing 
her Lady's hair, and the dayuh standing by 
with a punkah, the Lady said, "Ayah, you 
asked me one day what the ten commaiid- 
meiits are. I will tell you what they are, 
and wlien they were delivered to man. 
There was a certain mountain in Arabia, 
u[)im which the Lord God himself came 
do'.vrj, with tliundtjrs, and lightnings, and 



so THE AYAH AND LADY. 

smoke, and there he delivered unto Moses 
the ten commmidments, written upon stone." 

The Lady then repeated the ten com- 
mandments. 

By the time the Lady had repeated the 
ten commandments, her hair being dressed, 
she got up and went out of the room, leav- 
ing tlie Ayah and dayuh together. 

Then tlie dayuh said to the Ayah, ^«What 
words were those which the Uebee-Saheb re- 
peated?" 

The Ayah answered, that they were God's 
own words, and very good words. 

"They were not good w-ords," said the 
dayuh; «they were false words. Did not 
the Bebee-Saheb say, that there is but one 
God? This 1 know to be false. Is there not 
Brumhu, and Vishnoo, and Seib, and 
Doorgha, and Goness, and Luckshmee? 
Then there is Honeemaun, whose temple is 
on the river-side, not a hundred yards from 
the compound, does my mistress say he is 
not a god, though 1 knew an old woman, 
wliose son was cured of a fever by only 
looking at him?" 

"What my mistress said was very right," 
said the Ayah; "there is but one God, what- 
ever you Hindoos may say. Our syeuds 
always say so." 



THE AYAJHL AND LADY. 31 

"Your Sijeuds then say thjit winch is 
false," said the dayuh; and she began to 
give the Ayah gaullee. And the Ayah art- 
swercd the dayii/i in the same manner. 

Now the Bebee-Saheb was sitting in tije 
parlor, teaching her little girl to read, (for 
the Bebee-Saheb had a little daughter just 
five years old,) when she heard the noise 
which the Ayah and the dayuh made. 
«*What is that noise that 1 hear?" said the 
Bebee-Saheb to her little girl. *»Go, my 
dear, and see what is tlie matter." 

When the little girl came back, she told 
her mother, that the Ayah and dayuJi were 
quarrelling. 

"Go again," said the Bebee-Saheb, '^and 
call them to me." 

When the Ayah and the dayuh camo into 
the presence of the Bebee-Saheb^ slie asked 
them what they were quarrelling about. 
Then the Ayah told her Lady the cause of 
the quarrel: namely, that the dayuh had 
said, that there were a great nrany gods, 
and that slie herself had asserted that there 
was but one God. 

The Lady answered, <<I would not have 
you quarrel on the subject. I wish my 
servants to live in peace with one another; 
and when they speak upon religious subjects, 



S2 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

I would liave them speak in kindness and 

good-will. 1 will tell you what my holy 

book teaches about God." Then the Lady 

read these words out of the book: **Then 

Paul stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, and 

said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in 

all things ye are too superstitious. For as 

I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I 

found an altar with this inscription, to the 

UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye igno- 

rantly worship, him declare 1 unto you. 

God that made the world, and all things 

therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven 

and earth, dvvelhMh not in temples made 

with hands; ntithcr is worsliippcd witli 

men's hands, as though he needed any thing; 

seeing he giveth to all, iife, and breath, and 

all things; and hath made of one hh)o(l all 

nations of men for to dwell on all the face 

of the earth; and hatli determined the times 

before appointed, and the bounds of their 

habitation; that they should seek the Lord, 

if haply they might feel after him, and find 

him, though he be not far from every one of 

us: for in him we live, and move, and have 

our being: ascertain also of your own poets 

have said, For we are also his oiTspring, 

Forasmuch then as we air tlie offsj/sir.g of 

God, we ought not to think that the Godhead 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 3i> 

is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven 
by art and man's device. And the times of 
this ignorance God winked at; but now 
commandeth all men every where to repent: 
because he hath appointed a day, in the 
which he will judge the world in righteous- 
ness, by that man whom he hath ordained; 
whereof he hath given assurance unto all 
men, in that he hath raised i»im from the 
dead." (Acts xvii, 22 — 31.) *<Is there a 
God besides me? yea, there is no God; I 
know not any. They that make a graven 
image are all of them vanity; and th^^ir de- 
lectable things shall not profit: and th.ey are 
their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; 
that they may be ashamed. Who hatU 
formed a god, or molten a graven image 
that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all 
his fellows shall be ashamed; and the work- 
men, they are of men: let them all be gatii- 
ered together, let them stand up; yet they 
shall fear, and they shall be ashamed togeth- 
er. The smith with the tongs both worketh 
in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, 
and worketh it with the strength of his 
arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength 
faileth:^he drinketh no water, and is faint. 
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule, lie 
marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it 



34 THE AYAH AKD lADY. 

with planes, and he marketh it out with (he 
conjpass, and maketh it after the figure of a 
man, according to the beauty of a man, that 
it may remain in the house. He hewcth him 
down cedars, and taketli the cypress and the 
oak, wliich he strengtheneth for himself 
among the trees of the forest: he planteth 
an ash, and the rain doth nourisli it. Then 
shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take 
thereof aryd warm himself; yea, he kindleth 
it, and bakcth bread; yea, he maketh a god, 
and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven 
image, and falleth down tjjereto. He burn- 
eth \rr\rt thereof in the fire; with part there- 
of he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is 
satisfied; yea, be warmeth himself, and 
sai!h, Aha, I am warm, 1 have seen the 
i'iiv: and the residue thereof he maketh a 
goil even his graven image: he falleth down 
livsto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth un(o 
it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. 
They have not known nor understood: for he 
liath shut their eyes, that (hey carmot see; 
and their hearts, that they cannot understand. 
And none considereth in his heart, neither is 
there knowledge nor understanding to say, [ 
have burnt part of it in the fire; yea, also, I 
liave baked bread upon the coals thereof; I 
have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I 



THE ATAH AND I*ADY. 35 

make the residue tliereof an abomination? 
s'laii 1 1'all down to tlie stock of a tree? He 
fcedctli on ashes: a deceived heart hath tnrn- 
ed hiin aside, that he cannot deliver his 
soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right 
handr" (Isaiah xliv, 8 — 20.) 

When the Lady had done reading, she 
said to the dayu/i, <«I believe, according to 
my holy book, that there is but one God; 
and you have been brought up to think that 
there are many gods. It would please me, 
if I could persuade you to leave off worship- 
ping idols of wood and stone, and bring 
you to serve the true God. But I do not 
quarrel with you about it, or use you ill 
about it; therefore I would not have you 
quarrel with the Ayah any more upon the 
subject." 80 the Lady, and the Ayah, and 
the dayuh went to their dinners. 



CHAPTER VL 

On the Third CommandmenL 

"Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
vain; for the Lord will oot hold him guiltless that taketh 
i his name in vain." 

OxE day the Lady said to the Ayah, "I 
never hear yon speak, Ayah, but you use 



36 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

the name of God in your discourse. I think 
you make very free with that holy name," 

"It is my custom, Bebee-Sahcb,''^ said the 
Ayah; ♦<! mean no harm." 

**l once read the history of a certain king," 
said the liebeeSalieb^ *<who would not set 
bis foot upon a bit of paper, lest the name of 
God should be written on it: I wish 1 could 
see you have the same fear of God as that 
king possessed. Ayah." 

"All our people speak in the same way, 
Ma'am," replied the Ayah; "but we do not 
mean to offend God." 

"But then, I suppose," said the Lady, 
<»that your people do not know the com- 
mandment — Thou shall not take the name of 
the Lord thij God in vain; for the Lord rvill 
not hold him giiiltless that taketh his name in 
vain?'' 

"How should we know the command- 
ments, Ma'am?" said the Ayah; "very few 
of us can read, and our holy book is written 
in a ton£?ue which we cannot understand." 

"But," added the Lady, "supposing that 
you cannot read, yet your conscience, if you 
would listen to it, would tell you, that you 
must not make free with the name of God: 
For the wrath of God is revealed from heav- 
en against all ungodliness and unrighteous- 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 37 

ness of merif who hold the truth in unright- 
eoasness: because that which may be known 
of' God is manifest in them; for God hath 
shewed it tutto them. For the invisible things 
of him from the creation of the world are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things 
that are made^ even his eternal power and 
godhead: so that they are without excuse.*^ 
(Rom. i, 18—20.) 

•*Your slave," said the Ayah, "does not 
understand what her Lady said." 

"Do you not know, Ayah," answered the 
Lady, "that the Almighty God hears every 
word that his creatures say?" 

"Yes, Ma'am," answered the Ayah, 

"Will not, then, your common sense tell 
you," said the Lady, "without the heJp of a 
booli, that this great God is angry when his 
holy nanie is taken in vain?" 

Before the Ayah could make any answer, 
there appeared before the window one of 
ihone fakeerSf who go about with long hair, 
daubed with mud and filth, and having no 
clothes. Now the Lady had given orders 
tliat no such persons should ever be admitted 
into the compoujid; nevertheless, through 
favor of the chockedaur, who was a Hindoo, 
this man was admitted into it, and, as I 
said, he stood before the door, and began to 
4 



38 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

demand charity. The Lady immediately 
ordeied the Ayah to drop the purdah^ and 
called to the hearers in the verandah^ to see 
the man turned out. Now the Jakeer was 
a sturdy young man, and was as well able 
to work for his bread as any in India; 
and tliis he would have proved, for he was 
ready to fight the bearers when they went to 
order him away, and, indeed, would have 
done so, if the Saheb had not appeared in the 
verandah. He then made off; but not before 
he had called the Saheb by name, and told 
him that he did not care for him, and did not 
fear him. 

When the Ayah, who was peeping through 
the purdah in the Lady's room, heard the 
Jakeer mention her master's name, she began 
to call the Jakeer names in her turn, scream- 
ing from behind the purdah; and she was so 
angry, that her Lady was obliged to speak 
more than once to her, before she was silent. 

"Ma'am does not know," said the Ayah, 
<'what liberties that Jakeer takes with the 
Saheb's name; if she did, surely she would 
have him taken up and flogged." 

«I heard what the Jakeer said," replied 
the Lady, "and know that he deserves pun- 
ishment for coming into people's compound^ 
and raising disturbance; these things are 



THE AYAH AND lADY. S9 

not right. But, perhaps. Ayah, if we all 
had our deserts, we should require punish- 
ment as much as that/a/eeer. You are very 
angry at that fakeer, because l»e took liber- 
ties with your master's name; but whose 
holy name do you take in vain every day, 
and every hour, and that in his presence too? 
-<»For great is the Lord, and greatly to be 
praised; he also is to be feared above all 
gods. For all the gods of the people are 
idols: but the Lord made tiie heavens. Glo- 
ry and honor are in his presence; strength 
and gladness are in his place." (l Chron. 
xvi, 25 — 27.) <' Behold, in this thou art not 
just: L will answer thee, that God is greater 
than man. Why dost thou strive against 
him? for he giveth not account of any of his 
matters." (Job xxxiii, 12, 13.) Now, in- 
asmuch as God is greater than your master, 
your sin is greater than the fakeer^s; for 
while he only took liberties with your mas- 
ter's name, you make light of the sacred 
name of God." 

Then the Lady proceeded to talk to the 
Ayah about God. She told her, that there 
is but one God, that the throne of his glory 
is in heaven, but that there is not a place in 
the whole universe where God is not, as the 
holy book says, <^Whither shall 1 go from 



40 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy 
presence? It i ascend up into heaven, tliou 
art there; it 1 make my hed in hell, behold, 
thou art there. If 1 take the wings of the 
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of 
the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, 
and thy right hand sliall hold me." (l*salm 
cxxxix, r — 10.) 

*»if G'A is every where," said the Ayah^ 
«*why cannot we see himr" 

The Lady answered, "Because God has 
not flesi) and bones like you; he is a Spirit, 
and with the eyes of our bodies we cannot 
see spirits; but we shall see God after death, 
when our souls are set free from our bodies." 

<*Then," said the Ayah, «»God does not 
eat nor drink?" 

The Lady answ^ered, "Eating and drink- 
ing, and sleeping, are necessary to support 
our bodies; but a spirit lives without these 
things: therefore the Hindoos, who pretend 
that their gods eat, and drink, and sleep, 
like men, shew that they know nothing 
about the nature of God. ** Among the gods 
there is none like unto thee, O Lord: neither 
are there any works like unto thy works. 
For thou art great and doest wondrous 
things: thou art God alone." (Psalm Ixxxvi, 
8, lb.) 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 41 

I do not know whether the Ayah under- 
stood what the Bebee-Saheb said; but wlien 
her Lady ceased to speak, the Ayah an- 
swered, *'True words, Ma'am; true words." 



CHAPTER VII. 



On the Fourth Commandment, 



^'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days 
shalt thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do; but the 
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it 
thou shalt do no manner of work; thou, and thy son, and 
thy daughter, thy man-servant, and sthy maid-servant, 
thy oattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For 
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, 
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: 
wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hal- 
lowed it." 



The seventh day of the week is that day 
which the Christians are commanded by 
God to keep holy; and these are the words 
of the commandment — '^Remenibtr that 
thou keep holy the Sabbath-day; six days 
shalt thou labor, and do all th at thou Jjast;to 
do, &c." At the same time that God e^ave the 
#4 



J 

42 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

command, he gave the reason for it, namely, 
that he made the world in six days, and on 
the seventh rested from his work, and there- 
fore he commanded all mankind to rest from 
their work, and to keep it holy. Now the 
Jtiebee was very caret'ul to keep it holy, and 
to observe this commandment: she never 
gave her Ayah any needle-work to do on a 
Sunday; on that day the dirge had a holiday; 
and the bearers hitd nothing to do but to car- 
ry their Lady to church; and the horses 
rested all that day in the stable. The Lady 
never gave great dinners on a Sunday, that 
the khaunsaximaun and his people might have 
rest; and she was not pleased to see the 
mollees do any thing on that day which could 
be put off to the next. It was also a custom 
of hers, that the Ayah and dayuh should 
make themselves quite clean on a Sunday; 
and she was well pleased to see all her ser- 
vants so. 

It happened one Sunday when the Bebee- 
Saheb had been at church, that when she re- 
turned home, she saw the Ayah sitting in 
her dirty clothes sewing. ''What are you 
doing there, Ayah?" said the Lady. 

«I am making Ma'am's caps," said the 
Ayah. 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 4S 

<^\Vhat, to-day!" answered the Lady. 
»'Do you not know that it is Sunday?" 

«*Sunday is no holiday to me, Ma'am," 
replied the Ayah; "I am a Mussulmaun." 

«*Why do you answer me in that wa>?" 
said the Lady: "I am a Christian, if you 
are not; and I am forbid by my God to al- 
low any one to work for me on a Sunday. 
These are the words of the command — 
"Thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, 
and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man- 
servant, and thy maid-servant, and thy cat- 
tle, and the stranger that is within thy 
gates;" therefore, it is my duty to forbid 
your sewing for me, or in my presence. If 
you choose to go out and sew for yourself, 
I have nothing to do with it; but 1 would 
rather you should not." 

The x\yah said nothing, but put up the 
work, and went and washed, and put on 
clean clotlies, and came back and stood be- 
fore her Lady. Then the Lady bid her sit 
down on the carpet, and she spoke to her in 
this manner: "There are many white peo- 
ple, who are called Christians, in this coun- 
try, who despise the Sabbath, or holy day of 
the Lord, and will not take rest on that day, 
or serve their God upon it. But when the 
Sabbath day is properly kept, it is the hap- 



44 THE AYAH AND lADY. 

piest day in the week; and 1 will tell you 
how it is kept among the native Christians ^ 
in India." " 

^'O, Ma'am," said the Ayah, "the black 
Feringhees do not keep Sunday at all; there 
are several familie^s of them in the ba%ar, 
and they are great wine drinkers, and very 
bad people." 

<<ln this part of India they are very bad, 
1 know," said tiie Lady: "and the reason is, 
that they have been many ages without the 
holy book, or teachers; and having no cast 
to lose, they have become worse than even 
the Hindoos and Mussulmauns. But there 
is on the Malabar coast, very far away from 
this place, a certain country which, for 
above a thousand years, has been inhabited 
by black Christians. A few years ago, a 
certain English gentleman travelling round 
the coast, from Madras to Bombay, visited 
the country of the native Christians, and 
sent an account of them to his friends. Their 
dwelling places are among the mountaijis, 
and are exceedingly beautiful, abounding 
with various trees and flowers, and watered 
with rivulets from the hills. The first of 
these Christians, many hundred years ago, 
being persecuted by wicked people, who 
hated God, fled from their own country to 



THE ATAH AND LADY. 45 

this place, and they have lived there ever 
since, shut out from the rest of the world by 
tlie mountains. Here they built churches, 
which remain to this day. In those 
churches, every Sabbath-day, the people 
meet to hear God's holy word read by the 
priest, and to sing the praises of God; and 
the little boys are taught to write down the 
words of the priest upon palm leaves, to the 
end that they may remember them the bet- 
ter, and be able to read them to their moth- 
ers on the evening of holy days. These 
people live in peace and holiness. Every 
one marries but one wife; for the fear of 
God is with the people, and their hearts are 
turned from the abominations which are 
practised in this part of India." 

When the Lady had done speaking, the 
Ayah answered, **I could not have thought 
there were so many black Christians in In- 
dia, and that they lived so happily." 

Then answered the Lady, «*The Fering- 
hees who do love their God, are happy in 
every country, because the commandments 
of God, when kept, tend to make men happy 
in this world: and faith in the Lord has 
taken from them the fear of death, having a 
sure promise, that those who love God will 
be received into happiness the moment they 



46 THE AYAH AND XADY. 

(lie; then every day, for ever and for ever, 
will be like Sunday to them, because they 
dwell in the house of their God, and rest ^ 
from all their labor and sorrow." 

By this time tiffin was ready, so tlie Lady 
dismissed her Ayah. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

On the Fifth Commandment. 

"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be 
long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." 

One day when the Saheb was out, the Behee- 
Sahcb took a walk round the compoimd with 
her little girl. When they came opposite 
the new houses, she sent a bearer to fetch 
her a chair, that she might sit down, and 
enjoy the prospect, which was there, as I 
said before, very beautiful. While the Lady 
sat looking about her, and enjoying the cool 
air, and sweet smell of the flowers in the 
garden, the cook's w ife came out of the door 
of her house, to make her salam to the Be- 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 47 

bee. Her little boy, who was now able to 
walk, ran out after her, and held out his 
arms to her, to take him up; but she not 
seeiuaj him at first, he began to beat her, 
with his li tie hands, with all his might: and 
though he could not speak plain, yet his lit- 
tle tongue went as fast as it could, trying to 
give gauUee to his mother. His mother 
took him up in her arms, and kissed him; 
upon which he became more fuiious, and 
tried to scratch her face and bite her. The 
I Uebec-Salieb called to him, and looked an- 
grily at him, whereupon the child immedi- 
I ately ceased crying, and was silent. 
I Then the Lady called the cook's wife to 
I her, and said, ««When your little boy struck 
you, and fell into so violent a passion, why 
did you allow it?" 

*«What could I do, Bebee-SahebP'^ said the 
cook's wife, 

<«I will tell you," said the tiebee-Saheb, 
«what 1 do when my little gir! is naughty: 
I beat her with a rod; and the reason why I 
beat her is, that God has commanded us, in 
his holy book, to correct our children." 

"But, Bebee-Sabebf how can I beat this 
little child?" said the cook's wife: <'he is so 
little!" 



48 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

^Because he is little," said the Lady, "is 
the very reason that you should correct him.. 
He cannot resist you now, or run frt>m you,*^ 
hut when he is bigger he will do both. 'I'he 
reason why we see so many undutifui chil- 
dren as we do in this country is, that parents, 
will not correct their children while they 
are young, but allow them to go on, from 
day to day, following their own evil desires." 

Tlien the Lady bid the cook's wife and 
the Ayah sit down, for the Ayah was come 
up to hear what the Lady had to say, and 
tlie Lady told them this story. 



THE PORTUGUESE AYAH. 

Some years ago, (said the Lady,) 1 had an 
Ayah, a Portuguese woman. These Portu- 
guese profess to be Christians, although too 
many of them have very little of the fear of 
God. This Ayah had a son who was not 
more than three years of age when 1 first 
saw him, and he used to run after her as she 
went about her work. One morning before 
I was up, 1 heard this little creature say bad I 
words to his mother in the verandah, 1 
called her into my room, and said, *<Ayah,, 
you say that you fear God, and believe in 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 49 

the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for you 
upon the cross; w hy do you permit tliat child 
to say wicked words? Do you not know tliat 
God hates filthy language? and that such as 
use it will not be admitted into the kingdom 
of heaven?" 

<«What can I do, Ma'am?" said the Ayah. 

I answered, *<Beat him with a rod, and 
teach him the following commandment of 
God — '<Honor thy father and mother, that 
thy days may be long in the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee." " 

«He is too young, Ma'am," said the Ayah; 
**I cannot beat him." 

"Well then," said F, "you must keep him 
at your house; for if he is not taught to bo 
good, he shall not come here." 

So the Ayah kept him in her house in the 
compound, I used to see him running about 
with the little children in the bazar; and 
when his mother found fault with him, he 
used either to run away, or say bad words 
to her. After a time, I again said to her, 
^<Ayah, if you do not correct your boy, and 
make him obedient to you, he will grow up 
to be a wicked boy." 

"Ah, poor child!" she answered, "ho\v 
can I correct him? he is so young!" 
5 



50 THE AYAH AND lADY. 

When the boy was about seven years old, 
I spoke to the Ayah again, and that very se- 
riously: "That hoy ot* yours," said 1, 'Hsi 
growing up in wickedness, and it grieves me 
to see it. Bring him to me to-morrow; I 
will give the moons/iee orders to teach him." 

'•Yes, Ma'am,", said the Ayah. 

When next morning came, she did not 
bring him. "Where is your boy, Ayah?" 
said 1. 

"Ma'am, his clothes are dirty," she an 
swered; "I will bring him to-morrow." 

The next day, however, he did not come 
Again 1 said, "Ayah, where is your boy?' 

"Ma'am," she said, "he has hurt his loot, 
and can't come." 

Tlie next day she told me, that his head 
ached; and thus made excuses for seven or 
eight days. At last 1 grew angry, and said, 
<«Ayah, if you do not tell me tiie truth why 
you do not brir)g your boy to learn to read, 
J will send you away." 

Then she was frightened, and said>i 
"Ma'am, he won't come." 

"Why don't you make him come?" I said 

<*i cannot," she answered; "he is too 
strofig foi me." 

Tiien 1 said, <<The last time I spoke to 
you, Ayah, about your child, you said you 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 51 

could not correct him, because he was too 
little; and now you cannot manage him, he- 
cause he is too strong for you: and so, with 
you, the time of correction never comrs. 1 
am afraid yours will be a wicked boy." 

Then I sent the c/inprassee to bring the 
boy in by force; and the moonshee, in order 
to please me, tried to teach him: but he had 
been brought up to disobey his mother, and 
now he would not obey his master, and the 
moonshee was forced to leave off teaching 
him, and he was given up to his mother 
again. He grew more and more headstrong 
every day, and turned out a very bad young 
man; and the end was, that he robbed his 
poor mother of all her bangles, and a little 
hoard of rupees which she had made, and 
went off, and we heard that he was drowned 
in a small boat, with three or four more of 
his own evil sort, going down to Benares. 
I took what care I could of the poor Ayah 
after he was gone; nevertheless, she was so 
grieved, that she died shortly after. One of 
the last things she said to me was, "Oh, 
Ma'am, if 1 had corrected my son when he 
was a child, he would not have broken my 
heart when he grew up.** 

The cook's wife made salam to tbe Lady 
when she had finished the story, but she did 



52 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

not promise to correct her boy. So Hie 
Ladv and her little girl returned to the bun- 
galow, ^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

On the Sixth Commandment, 

"Thou shalt do no murder." 

In the service of the Saheb were two young 
kidmntgars^ whom the Saheb had taken in 
Irom citarity; as one of them had no parents, 
and the parents of the other were very poor. 
The name of one of these was Shumsheer; 
the name of the other, Peer Bukhs. Shnm- 
sheer, the elder of the two, was a tall hand- 
some lad: his hair was always cut neatly, and 
his turban put on with taste; he was very 
clean in his person, and quick and active at 
work, and always e^ood humored among the 
servants; and could sing several songs, and 
tell several stories: so that his company was 
much sought after among the other kidmut- 
gars. And this led him to drinking and 
smoking, so that he never had a rupee before- 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 53 

liand, and was in debt with half the servants 
oC the family; but still, from his good humor 
and agreeable appearance, he was liked by 
many. 

Peer Bukhs, on the other hand, was a 
clumsy ill-looking boy; and he was not less 
drunken or vicious than Shumsheer. More- 
over, he was very ill-natured, and dirty in 
liis person, so that none liked him, neither 
did he like anyone; but above all, he hated 
Siuimsheer. His malice was such, that he 
could not hide it; but he was always in a «ly 
way striving to spite and injure him> though 
as yet his ill-will had not broken out into an 
open quarrel. As to Shumsheer, he used 
to entertain himself with the malice of Peer 
Bukhs, and endeavor to provoke him more 
and more, by laughing at his clumsy figure, 
and dirty face, and ugly person. 

Several times the Saheb overheard what 
passed between these boys; and as the Saheb 
was a man that feared God, and hated sin, he 
used to reason with the boys in this manner: 
— ''I am sorry," he would say, **to hear of 
these disputes and disagreements between 
you. Have you not, Shumsheer and Peer 
Bukhs, the same wages, and tlie same work 
to do? and am not I the master of both, and 
do i make any manner of dilTerence bet^veen 
^^5 



54 THE AYAH AJfD lADT. 

you? When you behave well, am not I equally 
pleased with both? and am not I equally an- 
gry with both, when you behave ill? Uo I 
shew any partiality to either of you? Why, 
then, should there be those little disputes be- 
tween you? Know you not, that the Almighty 
God, that lives on high, but who takes ac- 
count of every thing which is done on earth, 
is very angry when his creatures fall out and 
quarrel with each other? We are all the chil- 
dren of one man, and are, therefore, all breth- 
ren, and, as such, we should love each other; 
*'not rendering evil for evil, or railing for 
railing; but contrariwise blessing." " (l Pet. 
iii, 9.) Then the Saheb shewed the bo}s 
how often it had happened that men had be- 
gun with jests, and a few angry words, to 
provoke each otiier, and that their hatied 
had arisen to such an height as to end in mur- 
der. He taught them, also, the sixth com- 
mandment, which is, "Thou shalt do no 
murder;" and explained to them, that if 
they hated each other, they were no better 
than murderers, as it is written in the holy 
book, "He that hateth his brother is a mur- 
derer," 

About this time the Saheb and the Bebee- 
Saheb had occasion to go to Calcutta by wa- 
ter. They took with them most of the ser- 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 55 

t vants; and among the rest, Peer Bukhs and 
ISliumslieer. These two boys had very little 
to do, as the pinnace glided down the stream 
of the Ganges, but to sit at the top of the 
boat smoking their hookahs; and on this oc- 
casion, Shumsheer, to make sport for the 
dandies, and other people in the boat, re- 
newed his old custom of mocking Peei* 
Bukhs. Peer Bukhs had nothing to say in 
return, for he had no ready wit; but he 
hated Shumsheer in his heart, and began to 
plot dark schemes of vengeance. 

At Patna, the pinnace and the other boats 
stopped two days, and the Saheh went on 
shore, to dine with a certain great gentle- 
man who lived there; and he took with him 
Shumsheer and Peer Bukhs, to attend him 
at dinner. 

Now when Shumsheer came to stand be- 
hind his master's chair, at the great SaheVs 
table, he was dressed, as usual, quite clean, 
his hair neatly cut, his turban well folded, 
and his face newly washed. But Peer 
Bukhs looked as if he had slept for a week 
in the clothes he had then on, and his hair 
WHS all tangled, and his face dirty. As they 
attended at the great Saheb-s table, the great 
Saheb said, <*What a difference tJiere is be- 
tween those two boys behind your chair! one 



56 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

is as neat and smart a servant as ever I saw, 
and the other as dirty and ill-looking a lad 
as can be seen." 

Now Shumsheer and Peer Bukhs knew 
what the great Saheb said, althougli he spoke 
in English; and when they got back to 
their boats, Shumsiieer triumphed over Peer 
JBukhs, and told all the words of the great 
Saheh to the servants and the dandies. Then 
Peer Bukhs determined in his heart, that 
he would be revenged tlie very fiist opportu 
nity; but he dissembled his wicked thoughts 

After a few days, the pinnace was moored 
one afternoon in a solitary place, where the 
banks were covered witli thick jungle down 
to the very brink of the water. Under tlie 
trees were many foot-paths, leading up in- 
land. Now Peer Bukhs knew tiiis place, for 
he had been here before; and he knew that 
up in tlie wood there was a hut, where toddy 
was sold, for thereabouts were fnany foddij 
trees. So, pretending friendship for Slium- 
sheer, he proposed that they should go on 
shore, and buy toddrj: <*For," said he, «our 
master does not dine till it is dark, and we 
shall not be w anted till it is time to make 
the table ready." 

Shumsheer loved strong liquor, tlierefore 
he accepted the proposal, and together t!jey 
both went up into the wood. 



THE AYAH ANB XADT. 57 

Now the house I spoke of was as much as 
half a coss up the country, and it stood alone; 
and near it were many tall toddy trees, 
Shumsheer had no pice to buy toddij with, but 
Peer Bukhs had abundant. So Peer Bukhs 
paid for the toddy whicli Shumsheer drank, 
and pressed him to drink more, till Shum- 
sheer was quite drunk, but Peer Bukhs kept 
himself sober. 

Now beyond this house where the toddy 
was sold, was a footpath, winding among 
the trees, to a deep well, which was now 
dry, and the top was grown over with grass 
and bushes. Peer Bukhs knew the place, 
for he was from this country. So, when he 
thought Shumsheer had drank enough for 
his purpose, he proposed that they should 
return to the boats. Accordingly, Shum- 
sheer got up, and gave Peer Bukhs his hand, 
to lead him to the river; for he was not able 
to guide himself. But the wicked Peer 
Bukhs, instead of conducting him towards 
the boats, led him to the brink of the dry 
well, and there giving him a push, he fell 
through the weeds and brushwood, and rose 
no more. Shumsheer had a cummer-hand^ 
of rose-colored muslin, and as he fell, it 
caught upon the briers at the top of the well. 



58 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

But Peer Bukhs did not observe this; for as 
soon as lie perceived his companion in tlio 
well, he fled towards the boats, rejoicin.i^ in 
the destruction of his enemy, and saying 
within himself, *<No man has seen what I 
have done." But there was one above that 
saw it, even God. He caused the voice of 
his brother's blood to cry from the ground, 
to bring the muiderer to punishment. 

Wlien Peer Bukhs came to the river, be 
went about his business as usual, making the 
table ready in the piunace,the kliaunsaumaun 
and the other kidmutgars being in the cook- 
ing-boats, and the Lady and Safieb walking 
on the bank of ihe river with their little 
girl. When dinner was ready, the 
hliaunsaumaun came in with the first dish; 
<»Where is Shumsheer?" said he. 

«*1 do not know," said Peer Bukhs; <'i8 
he not in the cooking-boat?" 

"No," answered the khaunsaumaun: "did 
he not go out with you when the boats came 
to?" 

"Yes," said Peer Bukhs, "we went on 
shore together, but he went one way, and I 
another; and 1 know nothing about him." 

"0!" said the khaunsaumaun^ "he is at his 
old tricks, getting drunk.'* 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 95 

There was not much inquiry made for 
Shuinslieer tliat nii^ht; but the next morning 
the khaunsaumauii informed the Saheb at 
breakfast, that Shumsheer was missing, and 
the Saheb immediately ordered the boats lo 
stop, for they already liad advanced some 
miles, and sent several persons back to the 
place from which they had started in the 
morning, to inquire for him. But they all 
returned in the evening without having 
gained any informalion concerning him, 
only that the old man who sold the toddy 
said, that two young men, looking like 
kidmutgars^ had come to his house, in the 
afternoon of the day before, to buy toddy, 
but that he could give no account of whence 
tlicy came or whither they went. 

As no news could be got of Shumsheer, 
the Saheb believed that he had run away, 
and ordered the boats to go on next morning. 
Then Peer Bukhs rejoiced again in his 
own mind, saying within himself, '*No eye 
hath seen what 1 have done, and I am re- 
venged of my enemy." 

So tlie Saheb went down to Calcutta, and 
remained there with his family three weeks; 
after which, he i-eturiied up the river, and 
arrived again at tUv place where poor Shum- 
sheer had been murdered, about three months 



60 THE AYAH AND LADY, 

after he had left it. <*0! mamma! mamma!'' 
said the choutee-bebee, wiien the boat came 
to anchor ujider the wood, **here is tl»e very 
place where poor iShuiiisheer was lost." 

"It is, my dear,'' said the ISebee: "poor 
Shiimsheer!*' 

While they were speakini^, the Saheb 
called them to take a walk under the trees. 
So the Saliebf and the Lady, and the little 
girl, went on shore; and the bearers follow- 
ed, to carry the little girl when she was 
tired. 

So ihey walked through the wood path: 
and the litlle girl gathered flowers; and the 
Saheb and Bebee were much pleased with the 
singing of ti»e minors ainong the trees, and 
the cooing of the doves. They saw no 
habitation of man in the wood, till they 
came to the house where toddy was sold; 
and there they saw the old man giving out 
toddy, in earthen jais, to the dandies of the 
boats. When the dandies saw the Saheb^ 
they made off as quickly as they could, and 
the old man was standing alone at the door 
of the hut, when the Salieh and his family 
came up. "You follow a bad trade there," 
said the Saheb to the old man: *'you are a 
great promoter of di'unkenness; and do you 
not know that God hates drunkenness?" 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 61 

i^Haun, Saheb, haun, Saheb,^' said the old 
man: but he did not seem to understand the 
Salieb^s words. 

The Saheb then asked the old man, if he 
remembered two youngs; kidmutgars coming 
to him about three months ago to buy toddy; 
one of which was remarkably smart, and 
well-looking. But the old man had now 
forgotten the circumstance; so the Safieb 
and his family passed on. 

It happened that they took the very path 
which led to the dry well. The little girl, 
who ran on before, was seeking on this side 
and that side for flowers; but she never 
went out of the pathway, because her moth- 
er had ordered that she should not. When 
she came opposite the dry well, she saw the 
rose-colored muslin on the briars. It had 
never rained since Shumsheer had been 
thrown into the well; therefore the muslin, 
although somewhat faded, had not very 
much lost its color. "What is that," said 
the little girl, "on the briars? I see rose- 
colored muslin. Shumsheer's cummerbund 
was rose-colored." 

"There is a well there," said the bearers; 
and they bid the little Bebee not to step out 
of the path, for fear she should fall into the 
well. 

6 



62 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

"Perhaps Shumshecr is in that well," said 
the little girl. 

By this time, the Saheh and Behee carne up; 
and when the Saheb saw the rose-coh)!ed 
muslin upon the briars, and perceived that 
there was a well, he began to be afraid that 
Shumsheer had lost his way, and fallen into 
the well. He stepped nearer the mouth of: 
the well, and saw more of the rose-colored i 
muslin; and a little lower down, hanging; 
upon the bushes, he saw poor Shumshecr's 
turban. Be stepped back, very much 
siiocked, and said, **Poor fellow! his body is 
no doubt at the bottom of the well. This* 
was the effect of drunkenness. He gotj 
drunk, 1 have no doubt, at that old man's 
house, and lost his way, as he endeavored t< 
get back to the boats. Poor sinful youni 
man!" The Saheh then turned back, an( 
the rest followed mouinfully to the boats. 

When they came back to the boats, th< 
dandies and some of the servants were cook- 
ing their dinners on the shore. It was soon 
told among them, that Shumshecr's body 
was found; and one of the bearers called to 
Peer Bukhs, who was laying the cloth in the 
pinnace, to tell him that the body of Sbum- 
sheer was found. «» Well," said Peer Bukhs, 
"have i any thing to do with that?" 



THE AYAH AND lADT. 63 

»*Wli() said you had?'' replied the bearer. 

<»Did I push him into the well?'' said 
Peer Bukhs. 

<»Who said you did?" said the bearer. 
"And if it comes to that, who told you he 
was found in a well?" 

It happened that tlie Saheb was just step- 
ping over the plank into the pinnace, and 
overheard wiiat passed between the bearer 
and Peer Bukhs, and now, remembering the 
hatred that used to be between Peer Bukhs 
and Shumsheer, it struck him at once, that 
Peer Bukhs had murdered Shumsheer. He 
also wondered that he had not himself before 
perceived the contradiction between the an- 
swer of Peer Bukhs, when questioned by 
the khaunsaiimauu on the evening when they 
first missed Shumsheer, and the report made 
by the servants the next day, which was, 
tiiat Peer Bukhs said, <*VVe went on shore 
together; and he went one way, and I 
another, and 1 know nothing about him:" 
whereas, the servants in the morning, re- 
turning from the search, had reported from 
the old man who sold toddy^ that two young 
men, looking like kidmutgarSf had been at 
his house together. He instantly called the 
clashees, and bade them seize the boy. But 
before they could obey his orders, Peer 



t)4 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

Bukhs jumped out of the windows of the 
boat, thinking to swim across the river, as 
he was a good swimmer; but the stream in 
that place was too strong for him, and lie 
was carried under the cooking-boat,and seen 
no more: and this was the end of this mur- 
derer. And if we could, in like manner, 
trace the history of every murderer, we 
should find, that, sooner or later, he paid 
the price of his bloody deed; for it is one of 
the commandments of God, Thou shall do 
no murder. 



CHAPTER X. 

On the Seventh Commandment, 

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." 

One day the Bebee-Saheb went out to dine 
at a neighboring lady's house. Before she 
went, she said, *» Ayah, as soon as 1 am gone, 
give my little daughter khauna; and when 
she lias said her prayers, put her to bed, and 
do not tak$ her out again.'' 



' 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 6S 

So the Bebee-Saheb went out; but it hap- 
pened that, just as she sat down, she was 
taken ill, and was obliged to return home. 
Now the Ayah, the dayuh^ and the mairaizee, 
did not expect to see the Uebee-Saheb; and 
behold, they had not put the little missy to 
bed, but were all dancing, and singing, and 
making tomac/iee; and the little bebee was 
sitting in the midst of them laughing. Now 
the Bebee-Saheb understood Hindoostaunee 
very well; and she knew that the songs 
which the women were singing, were bad 
songs, such as bad women sing. When the 
Lady came in, the women were frightened, 
and were all silent in a minute. The Bebee- 
Saheb was angry; and first she spoke to her 
little girl: ''Did not 1 order you to go to bed 
immediately after 1 was gone? You have 
disobeyed me, therefore I shall punish you 
immediately; for disobedience to parents is 
a great sin, and makes God very angry." 
So the Lady whipped her little girl, and put 
ber to bed. 

Then the Lady called the three women 
into the next room, and thus she spoke to 
them; <*You have been guilty," said she, 
*'of several very great offences: first, in dis- 
obeying your mistress. It is the will of God 
that servants should obey their masters: 
*6 



66 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as 
the sei^ants of Christ, doing the wilt of God 
Jrom the heart. Therefore, those servants 
who do not ohey the lawful commands of 
their masters and mistresses, are committing 
a great sin against God. But the fault 
which makes me even more angry with you 
than your disobedience to me, is that shame- 
ful custom which you Hindoostaunee women 
have, whenever you are together, of using 
bad words, and making filthy jests: whether 
you are Hindoos, or Mussulmauns, or Chris- 
tians, you must know, that God hates these 
wicked jestings. And if you do not know 
it, I will tell you, that the Almighty Lord 
God will not receive any person into his 
heavenly kingdom, who loves these filthy 
jestings, but will send all such persons to 
live with the devil in everlasting fire." 

The Ayah and the matranee made no an- 
swer, for they were ashamed; but the dayiih 
answered ^*Bebee-Saheb, do not be angry. 
We did not say any thing bad; we were 
only singing and dancing to please the little 
bebee: we said no bad words.'* 

^'-Dayuh,^' said the Bebee-Saheb, «I have 
been in this country many years, and know 
when you say bad words, as well as you do 
yourselves; and I often charged you never 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 67 

to let any person speak bad words before 
my little girl. Do you love my little girl, 
dayuh?'' 

<«0! surely I do," said the dayuh: "is she 
Mot mine? Did I not give her my milk?" 

"Then," said the Lady, "would you like 
to see her grow up to be a bold woman, des- 
pised by her husband, and by all the world? 
and, after her death, to see her, perliaps, 
condemned to everlasting fire in hell?" 

"0! Heaven forbid!" said the dayuh, 

"Do you not know," said the Lady, "that 
as you bring up a child, so will it go when 
it grows up. Now, if you are always using 
bad words, and making wicked jests before 
a child, the child will learn those wicked 
jests, and take delight in them; and when 
it grows higger, it will proceed from wicked 
words to wicked deeds." 

Then the Lady told the women a story. 
"There was once in my service," said she, 
"some years ago, a dayuh, who had one 
daughter. This daughter was a very hand- 
some girl, and 1 was so much afraid lest any 
harm should happen to her, that J kept the 
girl in my bungalow with her mother. The 
mother, too, seemed to be careful of Jier daugh- 
ter; she dressed her with nicety, plaited her 
hair neatly, and caused her to stain the 



68 



THE AYAII AND XADY. 



palms of her hands and feet with the juice of 
mindy. She would upon no account let her 
speak to a man; and if by chance the Saheb 
came into the room, she made the girl cover 
her face. But, with ail this might)' seeming 
care, the dayuh was always talking lightly 
and uttering vain jests before the girl. 
\^Mien 1 was told of this, 1 spoke to the dayuh: 
*You are afraid of your daughter, daynli; 
you do not even permit her to speak to a 
man.' 

**The dayuh ansvvered, *If she makes free 
"with men, no one will marry her. I am a 
poor woman, and as my daughter is very 
handsome, if I take care of her, slie may, 
perhaps, marry well, and then 1 shall have 
a home in my daughter's house.' 

« <But are you not afraid,' said I, <wben 
she does marry, that sire may not behave 
"WpH to her husband? Many women have left 
their husbands and gone to other men, 
breaking the commandment of God, namely, 
Thou shall not commit adultery,^ 

"'Many women have done so,' said the 
dayuh^ ♦but why should I suppose that my 
daughter will?' 

»<l answered, *Do you not continually, in 
the presence of your daughter, make a jest 
aud mockery of those kind of sins? Is it not 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 69 

your delight to talk of them? and when you 
think I do not hear, are they not constantly 
the subject of your discourse? Modesty, with 
you, is all outward; it consists in covering 
the face, putting down the eyes, and pretend- 
ing to be ashamed to look at a man. But 
the modesty which Jesus Christ teaches us, 
is inward modesty: Christian women are 
taught to refrain from filthy c'on\ ^rsation, 
and to hate even filthy thoughts. Christian 
modesty is from the heart.' 

<*The dayuh would not pay any attention 
to what I said, but she took her own way 
with her daughter. After a short time, the 
girl was married to a man who had a great 
deal of money, and the mother went with 
her to her husband's house. 1 heard noth- 
ing of her for some years, when, one day, 
the dayuh came crying to me, saying, that 
her daughter had run away the night before 
from her husband's house. I asked her, if 
her daughter had had any quarrel with her 
husband. After much hesitation, she con- 
fessed that her son-in-law was jealous of her 
daughter, and that he had beaten her se- 
verely, 

"I found afterwards, by inquiry, that the 
man had good reason to be jealous of his 



70 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

wife, and that she liad deserved the chas- 
tisement lie had given hei*. 

<'For many years we heard no more of the 
young woman; but I was at length told by a 
servant, whom we hired some time after- 
wards, at Calcutta, that the young woman 
had fled there in company with some man, 
and that, after a few years spent there in 
vice and misery, she had died in the streets, 
and her body had been thrown out upon the 
banks of the river, to be devoured by vul- 
tures and jackals. And this was the end of 
this handsome girl, who, if she had been 
modest, as well as handsome, might have 
lived honorably with her husband, and died 
respected and happy. 

<«liut being miserable in this world," said 
the Lady, '^is not the worst punishment of 
bold women. My holy book tells me, that 
adulterers God will judge; (Heb. xiii, 4,) and 
in another place, speaking of a bad woman, 
it says, Her ho-.ise is the watj to hell, going 
down to the chambers of death, (Prov. vii, 
57.) Mow, if we think what a dreadful 
place hell is, a place burning with fire and 
brimstone — a place of everlasting fire, where 
there never will be one drop of water to cool 
the tongue, 1 think we ought to pray to the 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 7% 

Almi.i^lity God to make us modest both in our 
words anil deeds." 

The Lady said no more, but went to bed; 
and I am happy to say, that the women, 
from that time, were careful never to say a 
bad word before tlie child. 



CHAVTER XL 

On the Eighth CommandmenU 

"Thou shalt not steal." 

In the first of these stories, I told you that 
the Ayah had a great many faults; one of 
these faults was, tliat she would steal, if she 
thought s!ie could without being found out. 
Her way of taking things was this: if she 
saw any thing she fancied, she would put it 
in some odd place, whereshe was pretty sure 
nobody would look for it; under the mat, or 
behind an almirah, or under the mattress of 
the bed. And she would keep it there, till 
she found whether it was inquired for; and 
if it was not inqjiired after for some time> 
she would carry it away. 



72f THE AYAH AND LADY. 

The Bebee-Saheb had a very pretty pair of 
Europe scissars, which the Ayah coveted. 
So one day she took the scissars out of the 
box where the Lady kept her work, and put 
them under the cover of the carpet in the 
Lady's dressing-room. 

The Lady having several pair of scissars 
did not miss these; and several days passed 
away, when, one morning, the little bebee was 
idle, and her mother made her stand in the 
corner of the room to learn her task. As 
the little girl stood shuffling about the cor- 
ner, she felt something under her feet, and, 
looking under the carpet, she found the scis- 
sars. *'0, mamma!*' she cried, here are 
your new scissars under the carpet!" 

"How could they get there, my dear?" 
said the Lady. 

<* Somebody must have put them there,'* 
answered th? little girl; it must be the 
Ayah, or the matranee,''* 

Then the Lady called the matranee and 
the Ayah, and said, "How does it happen 
that my scissars are put under the carpet in 
the corner of the room?'* 

The Ayah and the matranee answered, 
that they knew nothing at all about the mat- 
ter. 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 73 

Then sai(] the Lady, "You do not tliink I 
lam so foolish as to suppose, that the scissars 
were put there without hands; and you must 
have put them there, hecause you have the 
care of the things in this room. Kut, as I 
do not know wliicli of you it was, I shall 
jiass the affair over for this time; but be 
careful in future, and remember, that one of 
God's commandments is, Thou shall not 
steal:* 

Then the Lady dismissed the matranee, 
but she further spoke to the Ayah: "Ayah," 
she said, **I have once or twice before sus- 
pected you of not being quite honest. I have 
lost many little things since you lived with 
me. It grieves me to think of this, not be- 
cause 1 care for the things which I have lost, 
but because 1 know from my holy book, that 
no thieves (ui»less they repentand turn away 
from their evil practices) will enter into the 
kingdom of God; neither will the goods 
their dishonesty acquires, bring them pleas- 
ure or advantage in this world. It is better 
to liave a few coxvrics lionestly earned, than 
a hundred rupees not gained honestly: for 
with the one comes the blessing of God; 
with the other, his curse. There is a say- 
ing of King Solomon's written in my holy 
book, — "There is an evil which 1 have seen 



74 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

under the sun, and it is common among 
men: a man lo whom God hath given riches, 
wealth, and honor, so that he vvanteth noth- 
ing tor his soul of all that he desireth, yet 
God giveth him not power to eat thereof, 
but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, 
and it is an evil disease*'^ (Eccles, vi, 1, 2.) 

Now the Ayah heard what the Behee-Sa- 
heb said, but she paid no heed to the words 
in her heart, but went on in her old custom, 
taking such little things as she thought 
would not be missed: sometimes a few pins, 
sometimes a needle, a clue of thread, a piece 
of cloth or muslin, a handkerchief, or bit of 
ribbon. At length, it happened, that a neigh- 
boring lady came to spend the day with tlie 
Bebee-Sahth; and, as is the custom with the 
European ladies, she brought her work with 
her, and sat working in the Bebee-Saheb^s 
dressing room. 

While the strange lady sat working, the 
Ayah saw that she had a golden thimble, 
and coveted it. So, when the lady went to 
tiffin, and left her work and thimble upon 
the table, the Ayah watched her opportunity, 
and placed the thimble under the table, in a 
place where it was partly hid by one of the 
feet of the table. It so happened, that when 
the lady gathered her work together, to go 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 75 

home, she did not think of her thimble, and, 
two or three days afterwards, she went out 
of the country: so the Ayah made sure of the 
thimble. However, for more than a year, 
she did not dare to change it, ]est it should 
be inquired for. At length, she sent it to the 
ha%ar^ and changed it for a pair of bangles, 
whicii were to be made for her ancles. 

The old woman brought the bangles home 
in the morning; but the conscience of the 
Ayah smiting her, she could not put them 
on as soon as they came. In the evening, 
after she had dressed the Bebee-Saheb^ she 
went over to her house, and when she had 
eaten her khauna, she put on the bangles. 
As she was fastening on the last of these, 
she heard some of the servants call her from 
the bungalow. She jumped up, and ran over 
in a great hurry; and as she ran, one of the 
bangles fell fr-oai her ancle into the grass, for 
it was not rightly fastoned. So she un- 
dressed the /Sebee-Sa/i^lif; arid when the Lady 
was in bed, the Ayah lay down in the ojuttf 
room near the Lady's door. 

Now there was a lamp burning in the 
room; and when she had lain awiiile, she 
got up to look at her new bangles. It vvas 
then that she found out that one of the new 
bangles was gone. Without speaking a 



76 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

word, she took up the lamp, and searched all 
the room; but not finding it, she ran out, 
(not staying to put on her shoes) into the 
grass wliich she had crossed over in her 
haste when she was called from the house. 
As she ran along, she set her foot upon a 
serpent, and it immediately turned and b^t 
her in the fleshy part of her leg. The poor 
Ayah screamed so loud when she felt the 
bite of the serpent^ that not only the chocke- 
daurs, but the bearers, who were sitting talk- 
ing in the verandah, and several other ser- 
vants came running out. While some of 
them pursued the serpent, the bearers, by the 
master's orders, (who was also roused by 
the noise,) lifted the Ayah into the palanquin, 
and ran away with her to the doctor's bun- 
galow; for there was an European doctor 
living near the Saheb, 

When the doctor saw the Ayah's leg, 
without saying a word, he took a knife, and 
cut out the part that Jjvas bit, saying, ''That 
may save you; nothing else will:" for by 
this time, the other servants, and the Saheb 
himself, were come over with the dead ser- 
pent, which was very large, and of a deadly 
sort. It was dreadful pain to the poor Ayah 
when the piece of flesh was cut out; but she 
was forced to submit, for the doctor's ser- 



THE AYAH AND lADT. 77 

vants held her, and her own master stood by. 
After this, the doctor gave her some medi- 
cine, which she was to take every hour till 
the danj^er was over. 

Through the mercy of God, the Ayah did 
not die; but she suffered dreadful pain for a 
long time, and never quite recovered: the 
use of her leg, but went lame all her life: 
and the servants and people in the ha%ar 
used to call her the Limping Ayah. 

The Ayah used often to say to the old 
woman, «0! that 1 had never seen that gol- 
den thimble: what has it ever profited me? 
I had done well, if 1 had minded the Behee- 
SalieVs words. How often has she told me, 
that God has forbidden us to steal any thing, 
and assured me, that nothing i ever should 
steal would do me any service!" 

From that time the Ayah was very much 
afraid of stealing; and when she was tempt- 
ed to steal any thing, she used to say in her 
heart, "0 Lord God, ^keep me from steal- 
ing." 



78 THE AYAH AND LADY, 

CHAPTER XII. 

On the JSTinth Commandment, 

'♦Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.** 

It happened ene morning in tlie cold sea* 
son, that the Saheb got up very early to 
take a ride. After he was dressed, as he 
was passing through the inner verandah in 
great haste, he ran against a chair, and 
knocked it down, and it hroke a little glass 
shade, which had heen used the evening he- 
fore, and was set in a corner with some 
shoes and brushes, and other thin,a:s, belong- 
ing to the 5earer5. There was nobody with 
the Saheb when the accident happenefl; and, 
as he was in a great hurry, he went out of 
the house without telling any one what he 
had done. 

Soon after the Saheb was gone, the maitre 
came into the verandah at one end, and be- 
gan sweeping; and the Ayah came in at 
another door, with the candlestick from her 
Lady's room. As she was setting down the 
candlestick^ she saw the broken shade: 
**Uaun! ha%in,' what is here?*' said the Ayah. 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 79 

»«You have broken the shade, maitre^ with 
your brush, and what will the Sali^b say? 
Your tulub will be cut for it." 

The maitre laid down his brush, and came 
running to see what was the matter. <«Don't 
say that 1 broke the shade," said he, "for I 
have not been near it." 

Now the Ayah had had a quarrel with the 
maitre^s wife, and she thought that the pre- 
sent occasion was a good opportunity for 
taking her revenge. «Yes, but you did 
break it," said she: "did not 1 see you 
throw it down, as I stood at the door? and 
did not I hear the shade fall? I shall take 
care to let the Bebee-Saheb know." So down 
sli8 set the candlestick, and though the maitre 
called after her, she made no answer, but 
went back to her Lady's room, where she 
waited an opportunity to tell her story to 
the tiebee-Saheb, 

The maitre was much vexed, as you may 
suppose, and was afraid that the Ayah's 
story might prevail against him; but, lest 
some of the other servants should accuse 
him of the same thing, he left the verandah 
in haste, and went to sweep the other side of 
the hingalow. 

As soon as the maitre was gone, one of 
i\\Q palanquin- bearers came into the verandah^ 



80 THE AYAH AND XADY. 

and went to the corner of the room where 
the broken shade was, and vsat down to brush 
his master's boots. Now^ the bearer had 
chewed such a quantity of bang, during the 
iji.c;ht, that his eyes were quite red and dull, 
and he had but just sense enough to put his 
hand into the boot and brush it; but as to 
the broken shade, he never saw it. 

The bearer had no sooner set to work, 
than the sirdar-bearer came in. This man 
had lived long with the Salieb^ and was very 
careful of any thing for which he considered 
himself accountable. "What is tliis?" said 
he, as soon as he saw the broken shade: 
<<what have you been about, Paunch Cow- 
rie?" (for that was the bearer^s name.) *'So 
you have broken one of the shades! Well, I 
shall let the Saheb know. I will not be 
blamed, Paunch Cowrie, for your careless- 
ness.'' 

Paunch Cowrie lifted up his stupid eyes, 
and, for the first time, saw the broken 
pieces. Then, as the maitre had done before 
liim, he began to assert, that he had not 
broken it. 

"Did not I see you kick it down with 
your foot?", said the sirdar. «Did not I see 
it fall, and hear the crash?'* 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 81 

It was of no use for Paunch Cowrie to 
declare his innocence; the sirdar affirmed, 
that he had seen liim kick the shade down 
with his foot, and called him a drunkard, 
and all kind of had names, and that in a 
voice so loud, that the Behee-Saheb, who was 
reading, came out of her room, followed by 
the Ayah. "What is the matter, sirdar?'^ 
said the Behee-Saheb, 

The sirdar was by this time in such a 
passion with the hearer^ that he could scarce- 
ly speak articulately. At length he stam- 
mered out the cause of the quarrel. Now 
it happened that Paunch Cowrie was a great 
favorite of the Ayah's, and that she hated 
the sirdar as much as slie did the maitre's 
wife; so, without waiting until her I^ady 
should speak, <*How^ dare you say," said 
she, "that Paunch Cowrie broke the shade, 
when I myself, not half an hour ago, saw 
the maitre break it with his brush?" 

"Have I no eyes?" said the sirdar. "Do 
not I know when I see things? Look at the 
man, he is drunk now." 

«<Bring me the Korann," said the Ayah, 
"and I will this moment swear upon it, that 
I this morning saw the mnitr'e break it with 
his Jarran." 



82 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

"I will also swear," said the sirdar, ^«by 
Giuiga, that Paunch Cowrie broke it. I 
saw him kick it with his foot. I saw it fall, 
and heard the crash." 

By this time the maitre was come, and 
took iiis part in the quarrel, offering to swear 
that he had not been in the verandah that 
inorninja;. Anger now ran so high, that the 
Bebee-Saheb could not make herself heard, 
and all the servants came crowding in to see 
what was the matter. Things were in thi^ 
state when the Suheb came home. As soo 
as the Safieb came into the verandah^ h 
coinmanded silence, and then asked th 
Bebee-Saheb tiie reason of all this uproar. 

The Bebee answered, <*The little shade is 
broken, and the Ayah says she saw the 
maitre break it. The maitre says he has 
not been in the verandah this morning til 
now, and the sirdar declares he saw th 
bearer break it; and they are all ready t 
take their oaths to what they say. 

"Yes, Sahebf^' said the sirdar, "I will 
swear by the waters of Gunt^a, that I saw 
Paunch Cowrie break the shade." 

•*lt was broken before Paunch Cowrie 
came into the verandah,''"' said the Ayah; 
"and I will swear to that. 1 saw Paunch 



I 



THE AYAH AND lADY. 83 

Uowrie asleep out of doors when the maitre 
vas sweeping the verandah.*' 

"Did you see the maitre break the shade, 
Vyah?" said the Salieb, 

"Yes, Saliebf" answered the Ayah. 

"And are you willing to swear to it?" 
laid the Saheb, 

"1 am,'* answered the Ayah. 

««Then," said the Saheb, «*I am convinced 
hat you and the sirdar-bearer are liars; and 
ire not only .guilty of the great sin of lying, 
mt also of bearing false witness, and also 
calling Upon God, or those you call gods, to 
»e witness of your malicious falsehood. We 
-Cnglish people arc wicked enough, but in 
his respect we are not half so sinful as you 
Flindoos and Mussulmauns are. Very few 
English men or women will tell lies upon 
)ath; but among you there is no truth: you 
ire all liars; and, for the purpose of gain, 
)r love of vengeance, there is nothing to 
,vhich you would not swear. You, Ayah, 
ire a Mussulmaunee, and the Mussulmauns 
)retend to respect the commands of Gud; 
inow that this is one of God's command- 
nents — Thou shall not bear false witness 
igabist thy neighbor. And it is also written 
n my holy book, that every liar shall have 



84 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

liis portion in the lake which burneth with 
fire and brimstone." 

Then the Saheb mentioned in what manner 
he had brolien the shade himself, and finish- 
ed, by ordering both the Ayah and sirdar to 
leave his service: "For," said he, "1 will 
not keep such wicked liars under my root." 

The Ayah looked at the Bebee-Saheb; but 
what could her Lady do for her now? She 
had often, indeed, told her, it was wicked to 
tell lies; and if she had listened to her, she 
w ould not have been in this trouble. So the 
Ayah and the sirdar received their wages, 
and were turned away. The sirdar went to 
his own country, and the Bebee-Saheb allow- 
ed the Ayah to remain in her house in the 
compound till she could get a place. But she 
could not get a place, on account of her 
lameness, nobody would take her. So she 
I'emaincd in the compound for one year 
Then the Bebee-Sahtb begged the Saheh to let* 
her take her again into her service, for she 
was sorry for her, as she had lived with her 
so many years. 



^•' ■ \ 



i 



TUB AT AH AND LADY. 85 

CHxiPTER XIII. 

On the Tenth Commandment. 

**Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not 
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, 
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his." 

One morning, a poor woman came into the 
compound to be,^ charity. She came to the 
doDr of the Lady's bungalow. She had a 
little child with her, about four years of 
age. Now it was the cold weather, and the 
little child had no clothes; so the Lady sent 
the Ayah for one of her little daughter's 
ifocks, and put it upon the po(»r woman's 
child. After the poor woman was gone, the 
Lady perceived that the Ayah looked as if 
she was not well pleased; and she heard her 
say to the matranee in the next room, that 
slie did not think it right that the little 
liebee's clothes should be given to the 
fakeers. 

Then the Lady called the Ayah, and said, 
<«Ayah, you are displeased because I gave 
an old frock to a poor child," 
8 



&6 THE AYAH AND LADY. 

<«I am a poor woman," said the Ayah, 
<<and 1 have taken care of the little Bebee 
since she was born, therefore 1 hoped the 
Bebee-Saheb would have given me all the 
child's clothes." 

The Lady replied, "You have a good 
house, and clothes, and food, and many 
silver bangles and rings; therefore you can- 
not be called a poor woman; and yet you 
grudge an old frock to a poor naked child." 

To this the Ayah made no answer, and 
the Lady said, "You are a Mussulmaunee, 
Ayah, and the Mussulmauns hold the ten 
commandments to be good. Now in the 
tenth commandment it is written. Thou shalt 
not covet thy neighbors house^ thou shalt not 
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his servant^ nor 
his maid^ nor his 0X9 nor his ass, nor any 
thing that is his. When you came to me, 
1 promised you seven rupees a month, and 
two suits of clothes every year; but 1 prom- 
ised you neither my old clothes nor my 
child's, and although 1 often give them to 
you, yet you have no right to covet or desire 
them, particularly as you are in want of 
nothing." 

The Ayah answered, "The Bebee-Saheb 
does not recollect that I have a sun, for 
whom I wish to lay up a little." 



THE ATAIl AND LADY. 87 

"Your son, Ayah/' i**: plied the Lady, <*is 
growing up, and able to work for himself; 
you need not, tiierefore, be covetous on hia 
account. It would be better for him to have 
the blessing of God and be poor, than all 
the riches in the world." 

Then the Lady bade the Ayah sit down, 
and she told her a story. 

THE COVETOUS MAN. 

There was once in a certain village in 
Bahar, a dirge and his wife, who, for many 
years, had no children. They were indus- 
trious people, and very careful of their 
money, so that every year they were ena- 
bled to lay by a considerable sum of money 
to support them in their old age. After a 
time, however, it pleased God to give them 
a son, a very fine and promising child, of an 
agreeable countenance, and affectionate 
temper. <«Now we have got this son," said 
the dirge'^s wife, "we must endeavor to save 
more than we used to do, in order that we 
may be enabled to provide handsomely for 
him at our death," 

"True," answered the dirge: "neverthe- 
less, I would have no expence spared in his 
education, that he may have e\ery accom- 



88 THE AYAH AND XADY. 

plishment suitable t^ the fortune we hope to 
give him." 

Accordingly, the boy was brought up 
with care, and at the age of sixteen he was 
a fine youth, the delight of his parents. 

The dirge had a brother named Peeru, 
who had left his native village some years 
before tlie dirge^s marriage, and had never 
been heard of from that time. One evening, 
just as it was dusk, a man came and pre- 
sented himself at the door, making himself 
known to be Peeru. When the dirge re- 
cognized his brother, he embraced him cor- 
dially, presenting his son to him, and desir- 
ing his wife to prepare something good for 
his supper. 

While the dirge'^s wife was grinding the 
miissala in the inner room, she heard Peeru 
telling his brother and nephew what had hap- 
pened to him during his long absence from 
home, and how he had fallen into good ser- 
vices, and met with kind friends. From all 
which, the dirge^s wife inferred, that Peeru 
did not return without some considerable 
treasure, which was probably concealed 
about some part of his clothes. And now 
her covetous heart began to suggest to her, 
<*If I could get possession of his treasure, 
how would it enrich me and my son!" So 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 89 

she made liaste, and prepared a supper, and 
set it before her husband, and his brother, 
and her son. Peeru was hungry, and ate 
heartily; after which, <*Brotber," said he, 
<*I feel weary: will you point out to me 
where I shall go to rest?" 

His nephew said, «<Here is a bed in this 
room, where I frequently sleep; and there is 
another in the verandah. Take your choice, 
uncle; either is at your service." 

The uncle made choice of the bed which 
was in the verandah; and the young man 
conducted his uncle to it, himself taking the 
couch in the inner apartment. 

All this the dirge's wife observed, and 
when she and her husband were retired to 
their own chamber, which was at the top of 
the house, she thus addressed her husband: 
<«Husband, I perceive, from what I over- 
heard, that your brother is returned home 
very rich." 

The dirge answered, that he believed what 
his wife said was true, and that he had rea- 
son to think that all his treasure was con- 
cealed about him. 

The dirge^s wife then opened her covetous 
heart to her husband. <*1 have a great de- 
sire," she said, «to possess these riches, and 
I know not what would be more easy than 
*8 



90 THE AYAH AND lADY. 

to take them from your brother while he is 
asleep." 

"But when he awakes," said the dirge^ 
<<will he not inquire after his treasure, and 
perhaps bring us to justice?" 

"Take this sharp knife," said the wife; 
«it would very soon put it out of his power 
to tell who robbed liim. And when you have 
done this, we will throw the body into the 
well." 

The dirge answered, that he should like to 
possess the money, but that he could not do 
jcs she would have him. 

"Then I will do it," said the wife. "But 
first I will wait till the moon is down." 

While this discourse passed between the 
dirge and his wife, Peeru tried his bed in the 
verandah; but the night being somewhat 
cold, he thought that he should sleep more 
comfortably within. Accordingly, he got 
up, and went to his nephew, and proposed 
that they should change beds. "This was 
done, as he desired. And when the dirge*s 
wife came down, in the dead of the night, to 
commit the dreadful deed which her covetous 
desires suggested, instead of plunging the 
knife into the heart of her husband's broth- 
er, slie stabbed her darling and only child! 
And thus the Almighty God frequently con- 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 91 

founds the wicked schemes of sinful men, 
turning their plots against themselves. 

The poor young man uttered one dreadful 
groan, and expired! But although his voice 
was altered by his dying agonies, yet his 
mother knew it, and at once understood the 
dreadful mistake she had been guilty of. In 
tlie horror of her mind, she screamed aloud. 
Her husband, his brother, and the neigh- 
bors, came with lights to her, being called 
by her shrieks. What a dreadful spectacle 
presented itself to them! The body of the 
fine youth still bleeding abundantly, and his 
distracted mother, covered with blood, hold- 
ing in her hand the knife with which she 
had stabbed her son! The father of the mur- 
dered boy fainted away at the sight; and 
Peeru, who guessed how this accident hap- 
pened, and that he was the person whom the 
wicked woman had intended to have murder- 
ed instead of her son, caused the neighbors 
to carry her to the magistrate, where she 
suffered the punishment which the law in- 
flicts on murderers. 

The dirge lived not to see her end; for, 
shocking to tell, not being able to bear his 
own thoughts, the day after the murder he 
touk poison and died. 



92 THE AYAH AND LADY, 

When the Lady had finished the story, the 
Ayah said, "What a very wiciied woman 
the dirge's wife was!" 

«*I tell you, Ayah," replied the Lady, 
*<that she is not much worse than you are. 
You, perhaps, do not stick a knife into any 
person, or poison them; but this 1 know you 
would do: you would see any one starve to 
death, rather then spare them one cowrie. 
And this is the case with many in your coun- 
try, and, 1 fear, in others too; for the heart 
of man is desperately wicked." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The happy Death of the Bebee-Saheb. 

During the tenth hot season after the Ayah 
came to live with the 8ebee-Saheb, the Bebee- 
Saheb^s health began to decline. She grew 
yery pale, and wasted away; and although 
many doctors were consulted, they could do 
nothing for her. The Saheb had been mar- 
ried many years to the Behee^ and they loved 
each other with an entire and perfect love; 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 93 

SO that it was a great grief to the Saheb to 
see his beloved wife failing away. But the 
Saheb was a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and he was happy in the sure i»ope of meet- 
ing her, whom he loved, in the kingdom of 
heaven: for those who love Christ have this 
promise, — "They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun 
light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, 
which is in the midst of the throne, shall 
feed them, and shall lead them unto liv- 
ing fountains of waters: and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes." (Rev. vii, 
16, 17.) 

The Bebee-Saheb herself, also, was pre- 
pared to leave this world, for she felt within 
herself that she could not live long; and she 
requested the Saheb, when she should be no 
more, to send her little daughter to England, 
where she had a pious mother and dear 
sister. 

One afternoon, when it was very hot, the 
BebeC'Saheb lay upon a couch in an upper 
room, and the Ayah stood by, keeping off 
the flies with a choury. The Ayah had been 
very attentive to her Lady during her ill- 
ness, and sincerely grieved for her. "When 
I am dead," said the Lady to the Ayah, will 



94 THE AYAH AND I^ADY. 

yon go with my little giil to Europe, and 
take care of her at sea?" 

**Ah, Ma'am," said the Ayah, «<why do 
you talk of djing? you will get well, and 
live many years." 

*»No, Ayah," said the Lady; "1 know that 
1 caMiiot live long. 1 feel death vtithin me, 
and 1 am willing to die; nay, 1 do not wish 
to stay here, if I could." 

«* Ma'am is so good," said the Ayah, "that 
she is sure to be happy in heaven." 

<*Ah, 4.yah," said the Lady, **have I not 
oftrn lold you, that there is no one good on 
the face of the earth. You know the com- 
mandments of God; I have often explained 
them to you, and have often told you, that no 
person is good: «<f<)r all have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God." (Rom. iii, 
23.) I have, during my life, broken God's 
commandments many and many times; and 
as he that breaks one of the commandmrnts 
of God deserves hell, so, if I were to receive 
the due reward of my deeds, I should cer- 
tainly go to that dreadful place." 

<*But Ma'am has done many good things," 
said the Ayah: «and I have heard it said, 
that our good and bad actions will be weigh- 
ed in a balance; and if our good actions 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 95 

weigh down our bad ones, we shall go to 
paradise." 

«lf that is true," said the Bebee-Saheb, 
"we are all in a bad way; for the good deeds 
of the best man living are much fewer than 
his evil deeds, and for this reason: to be 
wicked is natural to us, we sin without pain 
or difficulty; but to do well is contrary to 
our nature, and even when we are striving to 
do well, sin mixes with our best actions. 
So, as 1 before said, if our good and bad 
actions are to be weighed against each other, 
we shall be found wanting." 

"But," said the Ayah, «»I have lived ten 
years with Ma'am, and I never remember 
to have seen her do a wicked thing." 

"I recollect your having said this before. 
Ayah, answered the Bebee-Saheb; «<and if 
you believe what you say, it is because you 
cannot look into my heart, and because the 
Almighty God has kept me from foul and 
open sins. But still I say, supposing that 
diiring the ten years which you have lived 
with me, I had only broken the command- 
ments once, for that one transgression 1 
should be condemned to death; «<fr)r he that 
said, Do not commit adultery, said also. Do 
not kill." (James ii, 11.) Now, if I have 
killed, though ! have not committed adultery. 



96 THE AYAH AND XADY. 

yet I am a transgressor of the law, and wor- 
thy of death." Then the Lady told the 
Ayah a story. 



THE KING AND HIS THREE LAWS. 

There was once in the Decan a certain 
king, who built a very fair palace, set in a 
walled garden, which he planted with roses 
and apple trees from Persia. The palace 
was fitted up with all manner of costly fur- 
niture for the habitation of his queen. Then 
the king enacted three laws, to be observed 
under pain of death. The first was, that no 
man without the king's permission should 
enter the garden; the second was, that no 
one but the queen and her household should 
presume to gather of the fruit of the garden; 
and the thiid, that no man should presume 
to speak to any of the female slaves belong- 
ing to the queen. 

it happened once upon a time, that the 
king and his courtiers went a hunting in a 
certain forest not far distant from the queen's 
garden. But the king being suddenly taken 
ill, left his train to pursue their diversion, 
afid himself, with two servants, turned in 
haste to the queen's palace. SVhen they 



i 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 97 

came to the garden it was dusk, and they 
found the door open. Tlie king dismounted 
in haste, and entered the garden, when be- 
hold, a man was standing within the door! 
Tlie king immediately ordered him to be 
seized, and brought before him the next 
day. As the king proceeded, he found another 
man gathering and eating apples; and when 
he drew near the palace, he found a third 
person speaking to one of the female slaves, 
who stood in the balcony, and offering her 
some of the fruit of the garden which he had 
gathered. The king was exceeding angry, 
and caused these men also to be seized, and 
brought before him the next day. 

In the morning, the king sat in tlie hall of 
justice, with all his nobles about him, when 
the three men were brought bciund before 
him. The king addressed himself first to 
the man whom he had found under the bal- 
cony. <'Wretched slave,'* said he, "did I 
not enact three laws? First, that no man 
should enter the king's garden; secondly, 
that no stranger should presume to gather 
of the fruit of the garden; and thirdly, that 
no person should presume to speak to any of 
the female slaves. But thou hast broken 
these three commandments, and thy life is 
9 



98 THE AYAH AND lADY. 

forfeited." So saying, Ijc commanded tiiat 
the man should be carried out to execntion. 

Then the kin.i^ addressed himself to him 
Nvho was found .gathering the iVuit. *'And 
thou," said he, "hast broken two of njy com- 
mandments; therefore is thy life forfeited, 
liear him hence to pay the penalty of his 
crime." 

Then he which had been found within the 
door, fell down before the king, begging for 
his life, attesting that he had only broken 
one of the king's commandments." 

Then the king answered, *'l have sworn, 
and my oath shall stand fast, that he wlio 
breaks any one of my commandments shall 
die. My honor and my Justice are engaged; 
know, therefore, that thy life is forfeited by 
tiic breaking of one commandment as ( es - 
tainly as if thou hadst broken them all, and 
tliou shalt die." 

When tije Lady had fjuislicd, the Ayah 
said, "Then, if God is like this great king, 
we must all be condemned; for what ujari 
ever lived who can say, ♦'! have not broken 
one of God's commandments?" 

"According to my holy book," said the 
JiCbee-Saheb, "if we are to he judged by what 
we have done, we sliould all certainly go t<; 



THE AYAH AND LADY. 99 

hell; for we know that the Almighty God will 
not tolerate sin." 

<'Then," said the Ayah, "why are you not 
afraid to die, Ma'am? For you look cheerful, 
aii<l seem willing to depart. Are you not 
afraid of hell?" ' 

«•! sljall explain that to you, Ayah," said 
the Bebee-Saheb. "You are a Mussulmaunee, 
and your religion is quite different from 
mine; though so far we agree, that there is 
but <me God, and that man ought to keep 
God's commandments. But my religion tells 
me, that 1 am by nature so wicked, that 1 
cannot keep the commandments, and for 
that reason am fit only for hell; but it tells 
me also, that if I will believe in the Son of 
God, who came down from heaven to die in 
my place for my sins, that my sins shall be 
forgiven me, and the righteousness of the 
Lord Jesus Christ shall be given me to ap- 
pear in before God, as at a wedding-feast a 
fair garment is given to a stranger; and 
more than this, that the spirit of God will 
be sent to me while on earth, by which I 
shall be so changed, as to hate the sin which 
I once took so great delight in. It is, there- 
fore, through the firm confidence which I 
have that my Savior has already suffered 
the punishment of my sins, and that 1 shall 



100 TUB AYAH AND LADY. 

Jjavea robe of righteousness given me where- 
in to appear before God, that 1 am enabled 
not only to meet death without foar, but 
even with joy and delight: for 1 kwow that 
when Christ, who is my life, shall appear, I 
shall also appear with him in glory. This 
has been my hope for yoars past, and will, I 
trust, be the hope of my dear child when I 
am in the dust." 

The Ayah made no answer, but she often 
afterwards thought of the words of the Lady, 
and thought how happy real Christians 
must be, because the Lord Jesus Christ has 
taken from them the fear of death, which to 
other people is so great a trouble. 

The Lady grew more and more weak, but 
she was easy and happy in her mind, and 
spent tlie last days of her life in talking 
about the Lord Jesus Christ to every body 
about her, ami that happy place, even the 
kingdom of God, to which she was going; 
and though she was often in pain, yet she 
was very gentle and patient. When she 
died, all the servants grieved very much; 
but none so much as the poor Ayah, who 
said she should never know so kind a Lady 
again. 

The Saheb remains in the same bungalow 
which he lived in with the Behee-Saheby and 



THE AYAH AND LADY, 110 

he takes care of all the poor people in the 
bazaar to whom she used to give alms; and he 
often talks with delight of the time when he 
shall meet with her in heaven, and when 
they shall be as the angels of God. 

The Ayah went home with the little Be- 
bee, and took so much care of her, that the 
Saheb gave her a very handsome present 
when she returned, and allowed her to con- 
tinue with her old woman in her pleasant 
house in the compound. Moreover, he has 
taken her son into his service as a kidmut- 
gar. 



#9 



GLOSSARY 



ALMIRAH, a Portuguese | 

word tor a clothes-press. | 

Jiyah, a waiting-maid. S 

Jiang) an intoxicating seed. | 

Bangle, a silver ornament. S 

JBaxar, a market. S 

Bearer, a servant, whose $ 

work is to carry a palan- ? 

quin; but who is frequent- 5 

ly employed to take care ? 

of children. < 

Bebee-Saheby a lady. ^ 

Begum, a queen. | 

Beheistie, a water-carrier, | 

BudgeroiVf an ornamented 5 

barge. £ 

Bungalow, a house with a S 

thatched roof. I 

Cast. — The natives of India 5 

are divided into various j 

ranks, called casts: each | 

cast has respective era- e 

ployments, which descend i 

from father to son. < 

Chaprassce, a kind of mes- 1 

senger, who takes his < 

name from wearing a 5 

badge or breastplate. 5 

Chaudnr, a web of cloth, 5 

used as a girdle by men t 

and as a veil by women. 5 

Chockedaur, a watchman. \ 

Chotee-bebeef a little lady. \ 



Choury, a fan for driving 
away flies: commonly 
made of hair or feathers. 

Compound, the inclosure 
I'ound a house, generally 
walled. 

Copra, cloth. 

Copra-ioaulla, cloth-mer- 
chant. 

Costs, two miles. 

Cowries, shells which pass 
current as money, of very 
small value. 

Ciimmerbund, a girdle. 

Curry, a stew made of va- 
rious spices, the common 
food of the natives of India. 

Curry-bhaut, boiled rice. 

Dandies, boatmen. 

Dayuh, a nurse. 

Decan, South — Applied to 
the Coromandel coast. 

Dirge, a tailor. 

Dobee, a washerman. 

Dobi7ie, a washerwoman. 

Fakeer, a religious mendi- 
cant. 

Fenn^Aees, Franks. A name 
given generally to Euro- 
peans in India, and to the 
descendants of the Portu- 
guese, who first settled in 
India: these are called 



104 



GLOSSARY. 



Black Feringhees, being 
remarkably dark. 

GaulleCy bad language. 

Gung-a, the I'iver Ganges. 

Ilaun, ay. 

Hookah, a peculiar appara- 
tus for smoking, by which 
the smoke passes through 
water. 

Jarron, a broom. 

Jungle, brushwood, or very 
high grass. 

Khuuna, food. 

Khaimsaumaun, a house 
steward, 

JCidmutg-ar, a serving-man. 

Lota, a drinking-vesse!. 

Jifaitre, a sweeper. 

JUatranee, a low Hindoo fe- 
male, who does the most 
servile work. 

JMindy, a red dye. 

JMol/ee, a gardener. 

Moonshee, a teacher, or 
learned man. A moon- 
shee is kept in most res- 
pectable English families 
in India. 

Jihisalchee, a torch-bearer 
and scullion. 

thiussalttt ingredients; gen- 
erally spices. 



? JVantch, a dance or ball. 

5 Padre, a Christian minister. 

S Palanquin, an Indian sedan 

5 or chair. 

I Paun, a substance chewed 

5 by the natives of India. 

\ Pepul, a kind of tree,which, 

? on account of the trem- 

S bling of the leaves, and 

I the rustling noise amoiig 

J the branches, is supposed 

i to be the habitation of a 

I god. 

i Pice, pence. 

5 Punkah, a fan. 

I Purdah, a screen. 

< Rupee, a silvei* coin about 

I the value of half a crown. 

\ Saheb, master. 

I Sala7n, salutation. 

5 Seer, two pounds weight. 

I Sirdar, chief, 

S Tiffin, lunclieon. 

\ Toddy, palm wine. 

> Tomachee, an uproar, 

J Tulub, wages. 

I Turban, a covering for the 

f head. 

\ Verandah, a piazza. 



*rHE END. 



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